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Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising

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Celebrity Vapors – img22913

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The growing popularity of e-cigarettes has led its manufacturers to leave no stone unturned in marketing to consumers. Taking a page out of the tobacco advertising playbook used in the mid 20th century, e-cigarette (e-cig) manufacturers are using celebrity endorsements to drum up enthusiasm for their products and hook teenagers. With celebrities endorsing e-cigs, billed as the “healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes,” smoking or in this case vaping of e-cigs has become a fashion statement once again.

As there are no marketing restrictions on e-cigs, slick television ads of celebrities puffing away on their personal vaporizers frequently bombard the airwaves. In Blu’s campaign, Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy urge people to take back their independence with the slogan “Rise from the Ashes.” The Blu ads featuring Dorff are so popular that he has become synonymous with the brand. In a recent interview, he said that people come up to him all the time and ask about the Blu e-cigarette. “I’m like the Blu man group,” Dorff said in the interview. In the ad featuring McCarthy, black and white shots of her exhaling smoke, highlight the blue tip of Blu e-cigs and make the entire experience look cool. In the ad, she goes on to say the best part of her e-cigarette is that she can use it ‘‘without scaring that special someone away’’ and can avoid kisses that ‘‘taste like an ashtray’’ when she’s out at her favorite club. Ads for e-cig manufacturer NJOY feature rocker Courtney Love, in an expletive-laced ad, in which supporters of indoor smoking bans are portrayed as “stuffy” and “stuck-up,” while
the rocker is portrayed as free-spirited and independent. e-cig companies have even photoshopped yesteryear celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Lennon using their products in ads.

Apart from direct endorsements by celebrities, there have also been subtle attempts by celebrities to promote e-cigs in movies and television shows. In an appearance on the David Letterman show, Katherine Heigl was seen vaping a Smokestik and proclaiming that she was addicted to the product, but it “wasn’t bad for you”. When CBS’s Two Broke Girls accosted their new, noisy upstairs neighbor, they were greeted at the door by Jennifer Coolidge with an e-cig in hand. Sean Penn was seen vaping an Njoy while talking about his work at Haiti at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Much like big tobacco in the past, e-cig companies are exploiting their association with Hollywood. e-cig manufacturers waste no opportunity in posting pictures of celebrities and films that use their products through their social media channels and websites. For instance, Blu e-cig’s Facebook page has a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio smoking what they claim is a Blu e-cig while filming Django Unchained. Blu e-cig’s website asks its customers to take a look at a film called “Plurality” because of the use of their e-cig in the film and provide a web link to the film’s trailer as well as a synopsis.

The insidious practice by big tobacco companies to use celebrity endorsements and testimonials for hawking their products was the norm during the 1920s to 1960s. The practice ended only in 1964 when the FDA banned it.

1. Eliott, S. (2013, August 29). E-Cigarette Makers’ Ads Echo Tobacco’s Heyday. New York Times.
Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/business/media/e-cigarette-makers-ads-
echo-tobaccos-heyday.html.

2. Johnson, G.A. (2013, October 16). Stephen Dorff: Actor a hot commodity in ads, films. San
Francisco Chronicle. Available at http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Stephen-Dorff-Actor-a-
hot-commodity-in-ads-films-4901477.php

Young Smokers – img3877

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The ads in this theme, featuring attractive, smiling, young models, blatantly target teens and young adults. This theme spans decades of cigarette ads targeting youth, from the 1920s Fatima cigarettes slogan, “the younger crowd,” to the 1930s and ’40s Old Gold slogan, “for young ideas,” to the 1950s Philip Morris slogan “for those with keen, young tastes.” Internal industry documents show that young people have been (and remain today) a key marketing target for tobacco companies.

Most smokers do not begin smoking as adults. Almost all new smokers, the lifeblood of the industry, are teens and young adults aged 13 to 21. An R.J. Reynolds document from 1973 reveals the long-seeded emphasis on targeting teens with cigarette ads: “Realistically, if our Company is to survive and prosper, over the long term, we must get our share of the youth market” (1). In the 1980s, R.J.R. placed a stronger emphasis on the necessity of hooking teens early, claiming that “younger adult smokers have been the critical factor in the growth and decline of every major brand and company over the last 50 years. They will continue to be just as important to brands/companies in the future…” (2). Later in this same document, the company literally refers to its smokers as if they assets, claiming that a young smoker “appreciates in value over time because of increased consumption.” Decades later, the sentiment that youth must be targeted remains prevalent. A more recent R.J. Reynolds document from 1998 explains that because only 31% of smokers begin smoking after age 18, and only 5% after age 24, “younger adults are the only source of replacement smokers” once adult smokers pass away (3).

The emphasis on targeting teens was by no means restricted to R.J. Reynolds. An internal Philip Morris document from 1981 explains that the teen market is “particularly important,” because “today’s teenager is tomorrow’s potential regular customer, and the overwhelming majority of smokers first begin to smoke while still in their teens” (4). Even after harsh criticism from activists and policy makers, tobacco companies continue to advertise to the youth market. While they claim they target only “informed adults” of at least 21 years, recent ad campaigns tell a different story. Take a look at some of our other themes, including “Flavored Tobacco,” “Joe Camel,” “Newport Teases Teens,” and “Recent Menthol” to discover Big Tobacco’s ongoing teen marketing campaigns.

Abroad, where regulation is less strict, flagrant targeting of youth in cigarette ads remains rampant. Bright pink ads for Kiss cigarettes in Russia, using fresh-faced girls enjoying lollipops and ice cream cones, exemplify the dangers of tobacco advertising with next to zero regulations.

1. Teague, Claude E. “Research Planning Memorandum on Some Thoughts About New Brands of Cigarettes for the Youth Market.” R.J. Reynolds. 2 Feb 1973. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/mqu46b00/pdf

2. Burrows, D.S. “Younger Adult Smokers: Strategies and Opportunities.” R.J. Reynolds. 29 February 1984. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/tqq46b00/pdf

3. “The Importance of Younger Adults.” R.J. Reynolds. 27 Feb 1998. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/eyn18c00/pdf

4. Johnston, M.E. “Young Smokers Prevalence, Trends, Implications and Related Demographic Trends.” Philip Morris. 31 March 1981. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/fts84a00/pdf

Racist Ads – img6875

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As World War II came to a close, tobacco companies needed to expand to “new” markets in order to maintain prosperity. At this point, they began issuing mass marketing efforts targeting African Americans as the demographic became urban-centric and earned more wages. Before this mass market expansion in the 1940s and 50s, however, tobacco companies sang a very different tune. Indeed, in the first decades of the twentieth century, the only ads featuring African Americans were racist advertisements that used black caricatures to advertise to white consumers.

An historian of African American history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor Robert E. Weems, Jr., explains that “when African Americans were perceived to be a group with very limited spending power, many companies employed the derogatory term ‘nigger’ in naming products” (1). Indeed, our collection includes ads for “Nigger Hair Tobacco,” among other racist advertisements.

When advertisers began to realize that the African American market was untapped and potentially lucrative, countless articles were printed offering businessmen and admen advice on how to attract African American consumers. One article from 1943, written by the “Negro market expert,” David J. Sullivan, actually alerted advertisers of racist techniques which should be avoided in order to prevent pushing away African American consumers. The essay, entitled “Don’t Do This—If You Want to Sell Your Products to Negroes!,” urged advertisements to avoid racist caricatures, such as “buxom, broad-faced, grinning mammies and Aunt Jemimas” or “the ‘Uncle Mose’ type … characterized by kinky hair and as a stooped, tall, lean and grayed sharecropper, always in rags.” (2)

1. Weems, Jr., Robert E. “African American Consumers since World War II.” Kusmer, Kenneth L. and Koe W. Trotter, eds. “African American Urban History Since World War II.” Chicago:The Univeristy of Chicago Press. 2009:359-375.

2. Sullivan, David J. “The American Negro—An ‘Export’ Market at Home!” Printer’s Ink; 208:3. 21 July 1944:90.

Ultra Light – img8931

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The ads in this theme outline the deceptive advertisement campaigns for “Ultra Light” cigarettes, a sub-category of so-called “light” cigarettes which is supposed to contain even less tar and nicotine. Sometimes referred to simply as “Ultra” cigarettes, Ultra Lights came into popularity in the early 1980s, and generally reported about half the tar and nicotine content of ordinary Light cigarettes. Many of the ads within this theme present ultra lights as carefree, However, the FDA has determined that all categories of previously-deemed “Light” cigarettes are no safer than regular cigarettes. In fact, internal industry documents reveal that from the very beginning, tobacco companies were well aware that smokers compensated for the low-nicotine draw from light cigarettes by changing their smoking behaviors.

“Light” cigarettes came in varying degrees of reported “tar” delivery levels. According to a Philip Morris Inter-office memo from 1987, those cigarettes which have tar delivery levels of less than 14 mg are considered “Light” and those with levels under 6 mg are considered “Ultra Light” (1). These designations were generic categories that extended across cigarette brands.

Ultra Light cigarettes, like Lights, are no safer than other cigarettes, but have been misleadingly portrayed as such by tobacco companies. Since the FDA was granted regulatory authority over tobacco products in 2009, it has begun to crack down on these designations, banning tobacco companies from using words such as “mild,” “low,” or “light” as of July, 2010. Unsurprisingly, tobacco manufacturers have figured out a creative way to escape this regulation: Now, they rely on color-coding: red indicates regular; dark green indicates menthol; light green, blue, or gold indicate previously “light” cigarettes; and silver or orange indicate previously “ultra light” cigarettes. A 2007 ad for Pall Mall, featured in this theme, reveals that the tobacco companies were prepared for this change: “BRIGHT NOW. Introducing Orange Box for Ultra Light.” The other designations and their corresponding pack colors are also featured so that consumers could figure out which color indicated which “health” designation for future purchases.

1. Weintraub, Jeff. “Identification Based on ‘Tar’ Deliveries.’ 9 Nov 1987. Philip Morris. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/jcj16e00

Objectifying Women – img0757

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Tobacco companies know as much as the next guy – sex sells – and they have no qualms with objectifying women to sell their product. As early as the 1930s, cigarette advertisements featured sexy women to lure men to the brand, and by the late 1930s, pin-up girls were frequently used on cigarette advertisements to appeal to male audiences. The Tiparillo advertisements in the “Should a gentleman offer a Tiparillo…: campaign (1968) are shameless in their objectification of women, with the models showing cleavage (plus) as well as intense eye contact. As expected, recent advertisements of the 1990s and 2000s are no better, as such images become more commonplace in modern times. These ads target youth explicitly. Though they primarily attract young men, they also manipulate young women into believing that a certain brand of cigarette might make her sexier and more attractive to men.

Marlboro – img1067

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Mixed Races – img5036

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Although tobacco companies had been marketing their products to specific ethnic groups for decades, it wasn’t until late in the 20th century that they began “integrationist” advertising. Previously, tobacco ads placed in African American magazines featured strictly African American models, and those in mainstream magazines featured primarily white models. However, beginning in the 1980s and gaining ground in the early 2000s, tobacco companies began featuring groups of mixed ethnicities in both minority and mainstream (“general audience”) publications.

In 1979, in an internal document researching market strategies for More cigarettes, R.J. Reynolds generalized about “the new generation of blacks,” claiming that more than previous generations, “they are more comfortable with the notion of co-existing and working side-by-side with Whites” (1). Furthermore, the document reveals RJR’s primary marketing concern at the time: “A balance must be arrived at,” the document says, “between providing depicted situations and people reflective of Black self-pride and ethnocentrism – and at the same time, confirming the extent to which Blacks have become integrated into the ‘Establishment.’”

Lorillard came to the same conclusion in 2001 for their Newport brand, which has since used models of different ethnicities in single ads. The 2001 Lorillard document makes the following conclusion: “Newport should seek to incorporate more multi-ethnic visuals in the creative mix. Smokers reacted positively to visuals that included people from mixed ethnic groups. They indicated that they have diverse circles of friends and mixed ethnicity situations are their reality. The idea of mixed ethnicity couples however, was not as readily accepted. The multi-ethnic scenarios should include settings where multi-ethnic groups would naturally come together, such as parties or group events” (2). Thus, many of the couples in recent Newport ads are of the same ethnicity, but the larger “friend” groups are mixed.

Brown & Williamson similarly moved away from segregated advertising in the 1980s for its KOOL brand, but instead of using mixed race groups in ads, it utilized jazz music and music in general as “an idea or symbol that was truly Pan-Racial… an idea that transcended the color of a smoker’s skin” (3). In one internal document, B&W’s advertising agency explains, “The print media, due to segmentation, provide the option of 'segregated' brand communication (for example, see Salem campaigns). However, this approach was avoided since it encouraged a split personality, or dual image, for the brand. It was concluded that a split personality was not viable in an image-sensitive category. Further, we believe that Black smokers increasingly will 'see through' this approach and possibly resent what essentially amounts to a 'separate but equal' dual campaign strategy” (3). In a National Sales Meeting speech, a B&W exec explained their music-oriented approach: “That’s not advertising for Blacks or Whites or Hispanics, that’s advertising for everyone who likes music. And how many people do you know who don’t like music? […] Black smokers are very important to KOOL, as you well know, and we could, like Salem, create a separate ad campaign to run in Black publications… with Black models only. But why should we? We don’t have to do that, we’re going to own the world of music, where the subject of Black and White don’t matter because the only real issue is one of pleasure. Musical enjoyment…linked to smoking satisfaction” (4).

“General Background – Black Consumer Market Demographic Trend & Marketing Implications.” RJR. 31 Dec 1979. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/sup76b00

2. “Jacksonville and Pittsburgh one-on-one research findings/recommendations.” Lorillard. April 2001. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/sqa42i00

3. Cunningham & Walsh Advertising Agency. “Kool: The Revitalization of an Image.” B&W. 1 July 1981. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/leb91d00

4. Lewis, LR. “Speech for National Sales Meeting.” B&W. Oct 1981. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/crj40f00

Light – img3062

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The ads in this theme document the decades of deceptive advertisement campaigns for “light” cigarettes. In the 1970s, the tobacco industry began heavily promoting “light” cigarettes as low-tar and low-nicotine alternatives to quitting. However, the FDA has determined that light and ultra-light cigarettes are no safer than regular cigarettes. In fact, internal industry documents reveal that from the very beginning, tobacco companies were well aware that smokers compensated for the low-nicotine draw from light cigarettes by changing their smoking behaviors. A brand of cigarette, for example, might register on the FTC Test Method as containing 12 mg of “tar” and 0.9 mg of nicotine per cigarette, but in actuality, a human smoker of the same brand would be able to receive much more tar and nicotine than the “machine smoker” by smoking the light cigarette in a different manner.

Indeed, since the 1966 release of the ISO machine-smoking method (used by the FTC to determine the tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide yield of cigarettes), the industry has worked intensively to create a product that would outsmart the testing equipment. For one, the tobacco companies discovered that added perforations on cigarette filters resulted in low tar and nicotine readings from the FTC Test Method, as clean air diluted the smoke “inhaled” by the machine; however, human smokers, unlike the machine smoker, are smoking for the nicotine kick. Often, this desire for nicotine causes human smokers to take longer, bigger, or quicker puffs on light cigarettes, since the cigarette provides “less” nicotine per normal puff. Additionally, smokers of light cigarettes often smoke more cigarettes per day than smokers of regular cigarettes. Sometimes (usually in the case of super light or ultra light cigarettes), smokers instinctively cover the perforations on the filters with their lips or fingers as they draw in, resulting in a very high intake of nicotine and tar from the cigarette (1). Because of these wide variations between human smokers and machine smokers, the FTC Test Method is now widely considered to be misleading for consumers.

The FDA was granted regulatory authority over tobacco products in 2009, and with this change came many new regulations, one of which directly concerns light cigarettes: As of July 2010, the words “mild,” “low,” or “light” are not to be used on tobacco products as they cause consumers to underestimate their health risks. This means that brands previously marketed as “light” or “low-tar” can no longer include these words on their packaging or advertising. Unsurprisingly, tobacco manufacturers have figured out a creative way to escape this regulation. Now, they rely on different colored packages to indicate whether a certain product is light, ultra-light, or full-flavor. The colors vary slightly among brands, but generally adhere to the following standards: red indicates regular; dark green indicates menthol; light green, blue, or gold indicate previously “light” cigarettes; and silver or orange indicate previously “ultra light” cigarettes. Camel, for example, replaced their “Camel Lights” product with “Camel Blue.” Philip Morris stuck with the idea that lighter shades indicate a “lighter” cigarette, and thus Marlboro Lights became Marlboro Gold, and Marlboro Ultra-Lights became Marlboro Silver. Likewise, R.J. Reynolds’ Salem Ultra-Lights became “Salem Silver Box.” The FDA has regulatory authority to demand that tobacco companies discontinue their color branding techniques in the future.

1. Kozlowski, T. and R. J. O’Connor. “Cigarette filter ventilation is a defective design because of misleading taste, bigger puffs, and blocked vents.” Tobacco Control. 2002; 11: i40-i50. http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/11/suppl_1/i40.full

Mild as May – img3267

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Tobacco companies have been advertising their particular brands as “mild” since the first half of the 20th century. From the start, smokers were aware that smoking irritated the throat, causing discomfort or “smoker’s hack.” Though serious health effects of smoking, like lung cancer, emphysema, and heart attack, were not yet identified in the first half of the 20th century, the seemingly benign side effects such as sore throat and cough were certainly bothersome to smokers. To counteract the sentiment that certain cigarettes were “harsh” and thereby worse for one’s health, cigarette companies began touting “mildness,” a ploy that has lasted well into the 21st century. By reassuring smokers that a particular brand was “mild,” tobacco companies succeeded in hooking consumers and preventing them from quitting.

In the 1930s, Philip Morris used “mildness” in an attempt to attract women, classifying Marlboros as “Mild as May.” Similarly, the American Tobacco Company, always struggling to maintain Lucky Strike’s female consumer base due to the brand’s inherently unfashionable packaging, employed the slogan, “Mildness and Character” along with images of beautiful, sophisticated, rich women. But a cigarette advertised as “mild” was by no means restricted to a female audience. Indeed, in the 1940s and ‘50s, Liggett & Myers drove home the “mildness” message in many of its Chesterfield ads that featured males. A good portion of these Chesterfield ads even included celebrity endorsements from famous men, including Ronald Reagan.

The deception continued and became increasingly prevalent as low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes gained ground in the 1970s. At this time, Brown & Williamson released Kool Milds in an attempt to attract the health-conscious smoker. B&W continued advertising Kool Milds heavily until 2010, when FDA regulations prohibited tobacco companies from using misleading monikers such as “low” and “mild.” Since this new regulation, Kool has followed other brands in color-coding its cigarettes to indicate “mild” or “low-tar.” It has now repositioned Kool Milds as Kool Blue.

Capri – img1013

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Mixed Races – img5037

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Although tobacco companies had been marketing their products to specific ethnic groups for decades, it wasn’t until late in the 20th century that they began “integrationist” advertising. Previously, tobacco ads placed in African American magazines featured strictly African American models, and those in mainstream magazines featured primarily white models. However, beginning in the 1980s and gaining ground in the early 2000s, tobacco companies began featuring groups of mixed ethnicities in both minority and mainstream (“general audience”) publications.

In 1979, in an internal document researching market strategies for More cigarettes, R.J. Reynolds generalized about “the new generation of blacks,” claiming that more than previous generations, “they are more comfortable with the notion of co-existing and working side-by-side with Whites” (1). Furthermore, the document reveals RJR’s primary marketing concern at the time: “A balance must be arrived at,” the document says, “between providing depicted situations and people reflective of Black self-pride and ethnocentrism – and at the same time, confirming the extent to which Blacks have become integrated into the ‘Establishment.’”

Lorillard came to the same conclusion in 2001 for their Newport brand, which has since used models of different ethnicities in single ads. The 2001 Lorillard document makes the following conclusion: “Newport should seek to incorporate more multi-ethnic visuals in the creative mix. Smokers reacted positively to visuals that included people from mixed ethnic groups. They indicated that they have diverse circles of friends and mixed ethnicity situations are their reality. The idea of mixed ethnicity couples however, was not as readily accepted. The multi-ethnic scenarios should include settings where multi-ethnic groups would naturally come together, such as parties or group events” (2). Thus, many of the couples in recent Newport ads are of the same ethnicity, but the larger “friend” groups are mixed.

Brown & Williamson similarly moved away from segregated advertising in the 1980s for its KOOL brand, but instead of using mixed race groups in ads, it utilized jazz music and music in general as “an idea or symbol that was truly Pan-Racial… an idea that transcended the color of a smoker’s skin” (3). In one internal document, B&W’s advertising agency explains, “The print media, due to segmentation, provide the option of 'segregated' brand communication (for example, see Salem campaigns). However, this approach was avoided since it encouraged a split personality, or dual image, for the brand. It was concluded that a split personality was not viable in an image-sensitive category. Further, we believe that Black smokers increasingly will 'see through' this approach and possibly resent what essentially amounts to a 'separate but equal' dual campaign strategy” (3). In a National Sales Meeting speech, a B&W exec explained their music-oriented approach: “That’s not advertising for Blacks or Whites or Hispanics, that’s advertising for everyone who likes music. And how many people do you know who don’t like music? […] Black smokers are very important to KOOL, as you well know, and we could, like Salem, create a separate ad campaign to run in Black publications… with Black models only. But why should we? We don’t have to do that, we’re going to own the world of music, where the subject of Black and White don’t matter because the only real issue is one of pleasure. Musical enjoyment…linked to smoking satisfaction” (4).

“General Background – Black Consumer Market Demographic Trend & Marketing Implications.” RJR. 31 Dec 1979. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/sup76b00

2. “Jacksonville and Pittsburgh one-on-one research findings/recommendations.” Lorillard. April 2001. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/sqa42i00

3. Cunningham & Walsh Advertising Agency. “Kool: The Revitalization of an Image.” B&W. 1 July 1981. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/leb91d00

4. Lewis, LR. “Speech for National Sales Meeting.” B&W. Oct 1981. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/crj40f00

Racist Ads – img11190

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As World War II came to a close, tobacco companies needed to expand to “new” markets in order to maintain prosperity. At this point, they began issuing mass marketing efforts targeting African Americans as the demographic became urban-centric and earned more wages. Before this mass market expansion in the 1940s and 50s, however, tobacco companies sang a very different tune. Indeed, in the first decades of the twentieth century, the only ads featuring African Americans were racist advertisements that used black caricatures to advertise to white consumers.

An historian of African American history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor Robert E. Weems, Jr., explains that “when African Americans were perceived to be a group with very limited spending power, many companies employed the derogatory term ‘nigger’ in naming products” (1). Indeed, our collection includes ads for “Nigger Hair Tobacco,” among other racist advertisements.

When advertisers began to realize that the African American market was untapped and potentially lucrative, countless articles were printed offering businessmen and admen advice on how to attract African American consumers. One article from 1943, written by the “Negro market expert,” David J. Sullivan, actually alerted advertisers of racist techniques which should be avoided in order to prevent pushing away African American consumers. The essay, entitled “Don’t Do This—If You Want to Sell Your Products to Negroes!,” urged advertisements to avoid racist caricatures, such as “buxom, broad-faced, grinning mammies and Aunt Jemimas” or “the ‘Uncle Mose’ type … characterized by kinky hair and as a stooped, tall, lean and grayed sharecropper, always in rags.” (2)

1. Weems, Jr., Robert E. “African American Consumers since World War II.” Kusmer, Kenneth L. and Koe W. Trotter, eds. “African American Urban History Since World War II.” Chicago:The Univeristy of Chicago Press. 2009:359-375.

2. Sullivan, David J. “The American Negro—An ‘Export’ Market at Home!” Printer’s Ink; 208:3. 21 July 1944:90.

Pink eCigs – img18804

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Electronic Cigarette (e-cig) companies are targeting women through female only brands such as Vapor Couture and Luli, as well as through dual sex brands such as V2 Cigs, Veppo, and Fin. In the case of the latter, some e-cig companies resort to advertisements that feature highly successful and independent women carrying out activities that have for long been considered the bastion of men. In the case of the former, e-cig companies market to women through advertisements that suggest girly, playful and stylish themes.

In these ads it is common to see pink e-cigs placed next to a bunch of red roses, or lipstick tubes, and compact containers. The intent of the imagery is to allow women to associate e-cigs as a harmless fashion accessory that is as important and essential as a makeup mirror or a tube of lipstick.

A common ploy adopted by many of the e-cig companies is to co-opt social /health causes for their own advantage. In 1992, the pink ribbon became the official symbol for breast cancer awareness. Since the adoption of the pink ribbon, the color pink has is often associated with support of breast cancer survivors, as well as women solidarity. By using the prink ribbon on their advertisements, many e-cig companies are attempting to earn goodwill from the public as well as suggest to potential consumers that there is nothing harmful about the product. For instance, an EverSmoke ad shows the torso of a woman with her breast covered by her hand and the pink breast cancer ribbon. The slogan reads “Save a Life. Save a Lung. Save a Boob.” At a time when no research had been done into the health effects of e-cigs this is a highly immoral advertising tactic, designed to play on people's fears of an often-fatal disease.

Capri – img1018

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Celebrity Vapors – img22917

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The growing popularity of e-cigarettes has led its manufacturers to leave no stone unturned in marketing to consumers. Taking a page out of the tobacco advertising playbook used in the mid 20th century, e-cigarette (e-cig) manufacturers are using celebrity endorsements to drum up enthusiasm for their products and hook teenagers. With celebrities endorsing e-cigs, billed as the “healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes,” smoking or in this case vaping of e-cigs has become a fashion statement once again.

As there are no marketing restrictions on e-cigs, slick television ads of celebrities puffing away on their personal vaporizers frequently bombard the airwaves. In Blu’s campaign, Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy urge people to take back their independence with the slogan “Rise from the Ashes.” The Blu ads featuring Dorff are so popular that he has become synonymous with the brand. In a recent interview, he said that people come up to him all the time and ask about the Blu e-cigarette. “I’m like the Blu man group,” Dorff said in the interview. In the ad featuring McCarthy, black and white shots of her exhaling smoke, highlight the blue tip of Blu e-cigs and make the entire experience look cool. In the ad, she goes on to say the best part of her e-cigarette is that she can use it ‘‘without scaring that special someone away’’ and can avoid kisses that ‘‘taste like an ashtray’’ when she’s out at her favorite club. Ads for e-cig manufacturer NJOY feature rocker Courtney Love, in an expletive-laced ad, in which supporters of indoor smoking bans are portrayed as “stuffy” and “stuck-up,” while
the rocker is portrayed as free-spirited and independent. e-cig companies have even photoshopped yesteryear celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Lennon using their products in ads.

Apart from direct endorsements by celebrities, there have also been subtle attempts by celebrities to promote e-cigs in movies and television shows. In an appearance on the David Letterman show, Katherine Heigl was seen vaping a Smokestik and proclaiming that she was addicted to the product, but it “wasn’t bad for you”. When CBS’s Two Broke Girls accosted their new, noisy upstairs neighbor, they were greeted at the door by Jennifer Coolidge with an e-cig in hand. Sean Penn was seen vaping an Njoy while talking about his work at Haiti at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Much like big tobacco in the past, e-cig companies are exploiting their association with Hollywood. e-cig manufacturers waste no opportunity in posting pictures of celebrities and films that use their products through their social media channels and websites. For instance, Blu e-cig’s Facebook page has a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio smoking what they claim is a Blu e-cig while filming Django Unchained. Blu e-cig’s website asks its customers to take a look at a film called “Plurality” because of the use of their e-cig in the film and provide a web link to the film’s trailer as well as a synopsis.

The insidious practice by big tobacco companies to use celebrity endorsements and testimonials for hawking their products was the norm during the 1920s to 1960s. The practice ended only in 1964 when the FDA banned it.

1. Eliott, S. (2013, August 29). E-Cigarette Makers’ Ads Echo Tobacco’s Heyday. New York Times.
Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/business/media/e-cigarette-makers-ads-
echo-tobaccos-heyday.html.

2. Johnson, G.A. (2013, October 16). Stephen Dorff: Actor a hot commodity in ads, films. San
Francisco Chronicle. Available at http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Stephen-Dorff-Actor-a-
hot-commodity-in-ads-films-4901477.php

Marlboro – img1068

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Capri – img19827

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Racist Ads – img11192

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As World War II came to a close, tobacco companies needed to expand to “new” markets in order to maintain prosperity. At this point, they began issuing mass marketing efforts targeting African Americans as the demographic became urban-centric and earned more wages. Before this mass market expansion in the 1940s and 50s, however, tobacco companies sang a very different tune. Indeed, in the first decades of the twentieth century, the only ads featuring African Americans were racist advertisements that used black caricatures to advertise to white consumers.

An historian of African American history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor Robert E. Weems, Jr., explains that “when African Americans were perceived to be a group with very limited spending power, many companies employed the derogatory term ‘nigger’ in naming products” (1). Indeed, our collection includes ads for “Nigger Hair Tobacco,” among other racist advertisements.

When advertisers began to realize that the African American market was untapped and potentially lucrative, countless articles were printed offering businessmen and admen advice on how to attract African American consumers. One article from 1943, written by the “Negro market expert,” David J. Sullivan, actually alerted advertisers of racist techniques which should be avoided in order to prevent pushing away African American consumers. The essay, entitled “Don’t Do This—If You Want to Sell Your Products to Negroes!,” urged advertisements to avoid racist caricatures, such as “buxom, broad-faced, grinning mammies and Aunt Jemimas” or “the ‘Uncle Mose’ type … characterized by kinky hair and as a stooped, tall, lean and grayed sharecropper, always in rags.” (2)

1. Weems, Jr., Robert E. “African American Consumers since World War II.” Kusmer, Kenneth L. and Koe W. Trotter, eds. “African American Urban History Since World War II.” Chicago:The Univeristy of Chicago Press. 2009:359-375.

2. Sullivan, David J. “The American Negro—An ‘Export’ Market at Home!” Printer’s Ink; 208:3. 21 July 1944:90.

Celebrity Vapors – img22918

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The growing popularity of e-cigarettes has led its manufacturers to leave no stone unturned in marketing to consumers. Taking a page out of the tobacco advertising playbook used in the mid 20th century, e-cigarette (e-cig) manufacturers are using celebrity endorsements to drum up enthusiasm for their products and hook teenagers. With celebrities endorsing e-cigs, billed as the “healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes,” smoking or in this case vaping of e-cigs has become a fashion statement once again.

As there are no marketing restrictions on e-cigs, slick television ads of celebrities puffing away on their personal vaporizers frequently bombard the airwaves. In Blu’s campaign, Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy urge people to take back their independence with the slogan “Rise from the Ashes.” The Blu ads featuring Dorff are so popular that he has become synonymous with the brand. In a recent interview, he said that people come up to him all the time and ask about the Blu e-cigarette. “I’m like the Blu man group,” Dorff said in the interview. In the ad featuring McCarthy, black and white shots of her exhaling smoke, highlight the blue tip of Blu e-cigs and make the entire experience look cool. In the ad, she goes on to say the best part of her e-cigarette is that she can use it ‘‘without scaring that special someone away’’ and can avoid kisses that ‘‘taste like an ashtray’’ when she’s out at her favorite club. Ads for e-cig manufacturer NJOY feature rocker Courtney Love, in an expletive-laced ad, in which supporters of indoor smoking bans are portrayed as “stuffy” and “stuck-up,” while
the rocker is portrayed as free-spirited and independent. e-cig companies have even photoshopped yesteryear celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Lennon using their products in ads.

Apart from direct endorsements by celebrities, there have also been subtle attempts by celebrities to promote e-cigs in movies and television shows. In an appearance on the David Letterman show, Katherine Heigl was seen vaping a Smokestik and proclaiming that she was addicted to the product, but it “wasn’t bad for you”. When CBS’s Two Broke Girls accosted their new, noisy upstairs neighbor, they were greeted at the door by Jennifer Coolidge with an e-cig in hand. Sean Penn was seen vaping an Njoy while talking about his work at Haiti at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Much like big tobacco in the past, e-cig companies are exploiting their association with Hollywood. e-cig manufacturers waste no opportunity in posting pictures of celebrities and films that use their products through their social media channels and websites. For instance, Blu e-cig’s Facebook page has a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio smoking what they claim is a Blu e-cig while filming Django Unchained. Blu e-cig’s website asks its customers to take a look at a film called “Plurality” because of the use of their e-cig in the film and provide a web link to the film’s trailer as well as a synopsis.

The insidious practice by big tobacco companies to use celebrity endorsements and testimonials for hawking their products was the norm during the 1920s to 1960s. The practice ended only in 1964 when the FDA banned it.

1. Eliott, S. (2013, August 29). E-Cigarette Makers’ Ads Echo Tobacco’s Heyday. New York Times.
Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/business/media/e-cigarette-makers-ads-
echo-tobaccos-heyday.html.

2. Johnson, G.A. (2013, October 16). Stephen Dorff: Actor a hot commodity in ads, films. San
Francisco Chronicle. Available at http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Stephen-Dorff-Actor-a-
hot-commodity-in-ads-films-4901477.php

Modern Menthol – img1897

by

This theme contains ads which represent a variety of the leading menthol brands, particularly Salem and Kool. A few recent ads for the mentholated versions of Winstons, Vantage, Marlboro, and Camel are also included. These ads are clearly marketed toward a younger, urban demographic. Additionally, many of the ads feature models of a variety of ethnicities, and African Americans are particularly targeted. The ads reveal the ludicrous targeting techniques employed by menthol brands and the lengths to which they will go in order to gain a stronger market share over youths and African Americans, the leading consumers of menthol cigarettes.

Recent Salem ads from the 2000s feature the slogan, “Stir the senses,” and each ad depicts a model smoking in green, mentholated ecstasy. Other Salem ads from the 2000s reveal clear youth targeting through a risk-taking appeal. For example, one of the ads presents an “underground” party, another presents a couple with an intertwining, extreme tattoo, and a third presents a scantily clad woman riding on the back of a man’s motorcycle – all in urban settings. The 1990s saw Salem’s “Refreshest” campaign, which targeted teens and adolescents with mind-boggling images like a woman relaxing on a pool floatie inside of a grand piano filled with water, or, similarly, a couple lounging in the pick-up of a truck, also filled with water. Earlier Salem ads (“Salem Spirit”) from the 1980s used a technique largely reminiscent of Newport’s long-lived “Pleasure” campaign, spotlighting groups of young friends having fun in athletic, outdoorsy settings. All of these ads blatantly target youth.

Kool’s advertisements from 2005 used the slogan “Be True,” which urged consumers to not only be true to themselves, but also to be true and loyal to the brand. Accompanying the “Be True” slogan was a variety of phrases such as “Be Passionate,” “Be Original,” “Be Smooth,” and “Be Bold,” all of which appeal to adolescents and young adults trying to “find themselves” and develop a sense of self. The “Be True” ads largely feature musicians, ranging from guitar players to disc jockeys, and their ethnicities are also noticeably diverse. In our collection, Asians, African Americans, and Caucasians are all represented in the “Be True” ad campaign. Other Kool campaigns from the 2000s, like “House of Menthol,” are more transparently urban-oriented, featuring boom boxes, speaker systems, microphones, graffiti, or skyscrapers. A subset of these ads features the “Kool Mixx” which claims to “celebrate the soundtrack to the streets” through limited edition cigarette packs. Urban youth were clearly a priority.

As of 2011, almost half of all 12- to 17-year-old smokers prefer menthols, while the total market share of menthols claims only 30% of all smokers (1). Additionally, according to one study conducted in 2006, 62.4% of middle school students who had smoked for less than a year tended to smoke menthols (2). Data like this has lead many experts, including the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC), to believe that the presence of menthols on the market increase the rate of smoking initiation. Additionally, government surveys in 2011 revealed that menthol cigarettes dominate 30% of the overall market, and over 80% of black smokers prefer menthol as opposed to 22% of non-Hispanic white smokers (1).

Wilson, Duff. “Advisory Panel urges F.D.A. to re-examine menthol in cigarettes.” The New York Times. 18 March 2011. .

Hersey J.C. et al. “Are menthol cigarettes a starter product for youth?” Nicotine & Tobacco Research. June 2006. 8:3;403-413. .

Light – img3065

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The ads in this theme document the decades of deceptive advertisement campaigns for “light” cigarettes. In the 1970s, the tobacco industry began heavily promoting “light” cigarettes as low-tar and low-nicotine alternatives to quitting. However, the FDA has determined that light and ultra-light cigarettes are no safer than regular cigarettes. In fact, internal industry documents reveal that from the very beginning, tobacco companies were well aware that smokers compensated for the low-nicotine draw from light cigarettes by changing their smoking behaviors. A brand of cigarette, for example, might register on the FTC Test Method as containing 12 mg of “tar” and 0.9 mg of nicotine per cigarette, but in actuality, a human smoker of the same brand would be able to receive much more tar and nicotine than the “machine smoker” by smoking the light cigarette in a different manner.

Indeed, since the 1966 release of the ISO machine-smoking method (used by the FTC to determine the tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide yield of cigarettes), the industry has worked intensively to create a product that would outsmart the testing equipment. For one, the tobacco companies discovered that added perforations on cigarette filters resulted in low tar and nicotine readings from the FTC Test Method, as clean air diluted the smoke “inhaled” by the machine; however, human smokers, unlike the machine smoker, are smoking for the nicotine kick. Often, this desire for nicotine causes human smokers to take longer, bigger, or quicker puffs on light cigarettes, since the cigarette provides “less” nicotine per normal puff. Additionally, smokers of light cigarettes often smoke more cigarettes per day than smokers of regular cigarettes. Sometimes (usually in the case of super light or ultra light cigarettes), smokers instinctively cover the perforations on the filters with their lips or fingers as they draw in, resulting in a very high intake of nicotine and tar from the cigarette (1). Because of these wide variations between human smokers and machine smokers, the FTC Test Method is now widely considered to be misleading for consumers.

The FDA was granted regulatory authority over tobacco products in 2009, and with this change came many new regulations, one of which directly concerns light cigarettes: As of July 2010, the words “mild,” “low,” or “light” are not to be used on tobacco products as they cause consumers to underestimate their health risks. This means that brands previously marketed as “light” or “low-tar” can no longer include these words on their packaging or advertising. Unsurprisingly, tobacco manufacturers have figured out a creative way to escape this regulation. Now, they rely on different colored packages to indicate whether a certain product is light, ultra-light, or full-flavor. The colors vary slightly among brands, but generally adhere to the following standards: red indicates regular; dark green indicates menthol; light green, blue, or gold indicate previously “light” cigarettes; and silver or orange indicate previously “ultra light” cigarettes. Camel, for example, replaced their “Camel Lights” product with “Camel Blue.” Philip Morris stuck with the idea that lighter shades indicate a “lighter” cigarette, and thus Marlboro Lights became Marlboro Gold, and Marlboro Ultra-Lights became Marlboro Silver. Likewise, R.J. Reynolds’ Salem Ultra-Lights became “Salem Silver Box.” The FDA has regulatory authority to demand that tobacco companies discontinue their color branding techniques in the future.

1. Kozlowski, T. and R. J. O’Connor. “Cigarette filter ventilation is a defective design because of misleading taste, bigger puffs, and blocked vents.” Tobacco Control. 2002; 11: i40-i50. http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/11/suppl_1/i40.full

Mass Marketing Begins – img7554

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As the threat of tobacco prohibition from temperance unions settled down in the late 1920s, tobacco companies became bolder with their approach to targeting women through advertisements, openly targeting women in an attempt to broaden their market and increase sales. The late 1920s saw the beginnings of major mass marketing campaigns designed specifically to target women. “Cigarette manufacturers have for a long time subtly suggested in some of their advertising that women smoked,” a New York Times article from 1927 reveals. But Chesterfield’s 1927 “Blow some my way” campaign was transparent to the public even at the time of printing, and soon after, the campaigns became less and less subtle. In 1928, Lucky Strike introduced its “Cream of the Crop” campaign, featuring celebrity testimonials from female smokers, and then followed with “Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet” in 1929, designed to prey on female insecurities about weight and diet. As the decade turned, many cigarette brands came out of the woodwork and joined in on unabashedly targeting women by illustrating women smoking, rather than hinting at it.

Capri – img19828

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Targeting Black Women – img8591

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In targeting black women, tobacco companies often portray an image of a strong, independent black woman. Increasingly, in the 1960s and 1970s, models wearing “naturals” or Afros began popping up in ads for Newport, L&M, Kent, Kool, and many more. A Kent ad from 1968 features a glamorous black woman wearing an Afro and luxurious jewelry next to the slogan, “Kent smokes… and that’s where it’s at.” Recent Salem ads from the 2000s feature the slogan, “Stir the senses,” and each ad depicts a sexy black woman smoking in green, mentholated ecstasy. A Camel ad from 2001 portrays a beautiful black woman singing in a nightclub in the “diva” tradition of Whitney Houston and Beyoncé Knowles. A Virginia Slims campaign from roughly the same time used the slogan “Find Your Voice” coupled with images of strong African women. For example, an ad from the campaign in 2000 features a woman in traditional clothing, balancing bolts of fabric on her head. The text beside her, half in Swahili, reads,”Kila mtu ana uzuri wake – No single institution owns the copyright for BEAUTY.” In this way, Virginia Slims portrays an image of accepting diverse standards of beauty.

Celebrity Vapors – img22919

by

The growing popularity of e-cigarettes has led its manufacturers to leave no stone unturned in marketing to consumers. Taking a page out of the tobacco advertising playbook used in the mid 20th century, e-cigarette (e-cig) manufacturers are using celebrity endorsements to drum up enthusiasm for their products and hook teenagers. With celebrities endorsing e-cigs, billed as the “healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes,” smoking or in this case vaping of e-cigs has become a fashion statement once again.

As there are no marketing restrictions on e-cigs, slick television ads of celebrities puffing away on their personal vaporizers frequently bombard the airwaves. In Blu’s campaign, Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy urge people to take back their independence with the slogan “Rise from the Ashes.” The Blu ads featuring Dorff are so popular that he has become synonymous with the brand. In a recent interview, he said that people come up to him all the time and ask about the Blu e-cigarette. “I’m like the Blu man group,” Dorff said in the interview. In the ad featuring McCarthy, black and white shots of her exhaling smoke, highlight the blue tip of Blu e-cigs and make the entire experience look cool. In the ad, she goes on to say the best part of her e-cigarette is that she can use it ‘‘without scaring that special someone away’’ and can avoid kisses that ‘‘taste like an ashtray’’ when she’s out at her favorite club. Ads for e-cig manufacturer NJOY feature rocker Courtney Love, in an expletive-laced ad, in which supporters of indoor smoking bans are portrayed as “stuffy” and “stuck-up,” while
the rocker is portrayed as free-spirited and independent. e-cig companies have even photoshopped yesteryear celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Lennon using their products in ads.

Apart from direct endorsements by celebrities, there have also been subtle attempts by celebrities to promote e-cigs in movies and television shows. In an appearance on the David Letterman show, Katherine Heigl was seen vaping a Smokestik and proclaiming that she was addicted to the product, but it “wasn’t bad for you”. When CBS’s Two Broke Girls accosted their new, noisy upstairs neighbor, they were greeted at the door by Jennifer Coolidge with an e-cig in hand. Sean Penn was seen vaping an Njoy while talking about his work at Haiti at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Much like big tobacco in the past, e-cig companies are exploiting their association with Hollywood. e-cig manufacturers waste no opportunity in posting pictures of celebrities and films that use their products through their social media channels and websites. For instance, Blu e-cig’s Facebook page has a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio smoking what they claim is a Blu e-cig while filming Django Unchained. Blu e-cig’s website asks its customers to take a look at a film called “Plurality” because of the use of their e-cig in the film and provide a web link to the film’s trailer as well as a synopsis.

The insidious practice by big tobacco companies to use celebrity endorsements and testimonials for hawking their products was the norm during the 1920s to 1960s. The practice ended only in 1964 when the FDA banned it.

1. Eliott, S. (2013, August 29). E-Cigarette Makers’ Ads Echo Tobacco’s Heyday. New York Times.
Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/business/media/e-cigarette-makers-ads-
echo-tobaccos-heyday.html.

2. Johnson, G.A. (2013, October 16). Stephen Dorff: Actor a hot commodity in ads, films. San
Francisco Chronicle. Available at http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Stephen-Dorff-Actor-a-
hot-commodity-in-ads-films-4901477.php

Couples in Love – img0695

by

Love and cigarettes, marriage and cigarettes, sex and cigarettes? Nothing is off limits in these tobacco advertisements which feature couples in love. The advertisements work cigarettes into the everyday lives of couples, seemingly bringing couples closer together or enhancing their sexual connection. In the 1920s and 1930s, women were pictured as part of a couple so as to lessen the shock value of women smoking. However, as times changed and women smoking became widely acknowledged, men and women continued to show up together in cigarette advertisements in romantic scenarios. These advertisements were particularly effective at targeting women, capitalizing on the stereotypical female desire to find a husband or be taken care of by a man. Often, however, these ads were also effective for men, who would imagine, after seeing one of the ads, that a woman sensuously falls into a man’s arms with just the whiff of a cigarette or the mingling of fumes.

Capri – img19829

by

Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Celebrity Vapors – img22920

by

The growing popularity of e-cigarettes has led its manufacturers to leave no stone unturned in marketing to consumers. Taking a page out of the tobacco advertising playbook used in the mid 20th century, e-cigarette (e-cig) manufacturers are using celebrity endorsements to drum up enthusiasm for their products and hook teenagers. With celebrities endorsing e-cigs, billed as the “healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes,” smoking or in this case vaping of e-cigs has become a fashion statement once again.

As there are no marketing restrictions on e-cigs, slick television ads of celebrities puffing away on their personal vaporizers frequently bombard the airwaves. In Blu’s campaign, Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy urge people to take back their independence with the slogan “Rise from the Ashes.” The Blu ads featuring Dorff are so popular that he has become synonymous with the brand. In a recent interview, he said that people come up to him all the time and ask about the Blu e-cigarette. “I’m like the Blu man group,” Dorff said in the interview. In the ad featuring McCarthy, black and white shots of her exhaling smoke, highlight the blue tip of Blu e-cigs and make the entire experience look cool. In the ad, she goes on to say the best part of her e-cigarette is that she can use it ‘‘without scaring that special someone away’’ and can avoid kisses that ‘‘taste like an ashtray’’ when she’s out at her favorite club. Ads for e-cig manufacturer NJOY feature rocker Courtney Love, in an expletive-laced ad, in which supporters of indoor smoking bans are portrayed as “stuffy” and “stuck-up,” while
the rocker is portrayed as free-spirited and independent. e-cig companies have even photoshopped yesteryear celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Lennon using their products in ads.

Apart from direct endorsements by celebrities, there have also been subtle attempts by celebrities to promote e-cigs in movies and television shows. In an appearance on the David Letterman show, Katherine Heigl was seen vaping a Smokestik and proclaiming that she was addicted to the product, but it “wasn’t bad for you”. When CBS’s Two Broke Girls accosted their new, noisy upstairs neighbor, they were greeted at the door by Jennifer Coolidge with an e-cig in hand. Sean Penn was seen vaping an Njoy while talking about his work at Haiti at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Much like big tobacco in the past, e-cig companies are exploiting their association with Hollywood. e-cig manufacturers waste no opportunity in posting pictures of celebrities and films that use their products through their social media channels and websites. For instance, Blu e-cig’s Facebook page has a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio smoking what they claim is a Blu e-cig while filming Django Unchained. Blu e-cig’s website asks its customers to take a look at a film called “Plurality” because of the use of their e-cig in the film and provide a web link to the film’s trailer as well as a synopsis.

The insidious practice by big tobacco companies to use celebrity endorsements and testimonials for hawking their products was the norm during the 1920s to 1960s. The practice ended only in 1964 when the FDA banned it.

1. Eliott, S. (2013, August 29). E-Cigarette Makers’ Ads Echo Tobacco’s Heyday. New York Times.
Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/business/media/e-cigarette-makers-ads-
echo-tobaccos-heyday.html.

2. Johnson, G.A. (2013, October 16). Stephen Dorff: Actor a hot commodity in ads, films. San
Francisco Chronicle. Available at http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Stephen-Dorff-Actor-a-
hot-commodity-in-ads-films-4901477.php

Modern Menthol – img1892

by

This theme contains ads which represent a variety of the leading menthol brands, particularly Salem and Kool. A few recent ads for the mentholated versions of Winstons, Vantage, Marlboro, and Camel are also included. These ads are clearly marketed toward a younger, urban demographic. Additionally, many of the ads feature models of a variety of ethnicities, and African Americans are particularly targeted. The ads reveal the ludicrous targeting techniques employed by menthol brands and the lengths to which they will go in order to gain a stronger market share over youths and African Americans, the leading consumers of menthol cigarettes.

Recent Salem ads from the 2000s feature the slogan, “Stir the senses,” and each ad depicts a model smoking in green, mentholated ecstasy. Other Salem ads from the 2000s reveal clear youth targeting through a risk-taking appeal. For example, one of the ads presents an “underground” party, another presents a couple with an intertwining, extreme tattoo, and a third presents a scantily clad woman riding on the back of a man’s motorcycle – all in urban settings. The 1990s saw Salem’s “Refreshest” campaign, which targeted teens and adolescents with mind-boggling images like a woman relaxing on a pool floatie inside of a grand piano filled with water, or, similarly, a couple lounging in the pick-up of a truck, also filled with water. Earlier Salem ads (“Salem Spirit”) from the 1980s used a technique largely reminiscent of Newport’s long-lived “Pleasure” campaign, spotlighting groups of young friends having fun in athletic, outdoorsy settings. All of these ads blatantly target youth.

Kool’s advertisements from 2005 used the slogan “Be True,” which urged consumers to not only be true to themselves, but also to be true and loyal to the brand. Accompanying the “Be True” slogan was a variety of phrases such as “Be Passionate,” “Be Original,” “Be Smooth,” and “Be Bold,” all of which appeal to adolescents and young adults trying to “find themselves” and develop a sense of self. The “Be True” ads largely feature musicians, ranging from guitar players to disc jockeys, and their ethnicities are also noticeably diverse. In our collection, Asians, African Americans, and Caucasians are all represented in the “Be True” ad campaign. Other Kool campaigns from the 2000s, like “House of Menthol,” are more transparently urban-oriented, featuring boom boxes, speaker systems, microphones, graffiti, or skyscrapers. A subset of these ads features the “Kool Mixx” which claims to “celebrate the soundtrack to the streets” through limited edition cigarette packs. Urban youth were clearly a priority.

As of 2011, almost half of all 12- to 17-year-old smokers prefer menthols, while the total market share of menthols claims only 30% of all smokers (1). Additionally, according to one study conducted in 2006, 62.4% of middle school students who had smoked for less than a year tended to smoke menthols (2). Data like this has lead many experts, including the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC), to believe that the presence of menthols on the market increase the rate of smoking initiation. Additionally, government surveys in 2011 revealed that menthol cigarettes dominate 30% of the overall market, and over 80% of black smokers prefer menthol as opposed to 22% of non-Hispanic white smokers (1).

Wilson, Duff. “Advisory Panel urges F.D.A. to re-examine menthol in cigarettes.” The New York Times. 18 March 2011. .

Hersey J.C. et al. “Are menthol cigarettes a starter product for youth?” Nicotine & Tobacco Research. June 2006. 8:3;403-413. .

Couples in Love – img0696

by

Love and cigarettes, marriage and cigarettes, sex and cigarettes? Nothing is off limits in these tobacco advertisements which feature couples in love. The advertisements work cigarettes into the everyday lives of couples, seemingly bringing couples closer together or enhancing their sexual connection. In the 1920s and 1930s, women were pictured as part of a couple so as to lessen the shock value of women smoking. However, as times changed and women smoking became widely acknowledged, men and women continued to show up together in cigarette advertisements in romantic scenarios. These advertisements were particularly effective at targeting women, capitalizing on the stereotypical female desire to find a husband or be taken care of by a man. Often, however, these ads were also effective for men, who would imagine, after seeing one of the ads, that a woman sensuously falls into a man’s arms with just the whiff of a cigarette or the mingling of fumes.

Capri – img1014

by

Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Mild as May – img3273

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Tobacco companies have been advertising their particular brands as “mild” since the first half of the 20th century. From the start, smokers were aware that smoking irritated the throat, causing discomfort or “smoker’s hack.” Though serious health effects of smoking, like lung cancer, emphysema, and heart attack, were not yet identified in the first half of the 20th century, the seemingly benign side effects such as sore throat and cough were certainly bothersome to smokers. To counteract the sentiment that certain cigarettes were “harsh” and thereby worse for one’s health, cigarette companies began touting “mildness,” a ploy that has lasted well into the 21st century. By reassuring smokers that a particular brand was “mild,” tobacco companies succeeded in hooking consumers and preventing them from quitting.

In the 1930s, Philip Morris used “mildness” in an attempt to attract women, classifying Marlboros as “Mild as May.” Similarly, the American Tobacco Company, always struggling to maintain Lucky Strike’s female consumer base due to the brand’s inherently unfashionable packaging, employed the slogan, “Mildness and Character” along with images of beautiful, sophisticated, rich women. But a cigarette advertised as “mild” was by no means restricted to a female audience. Indeed, in the 1940s and ‘50s, Liggett & Myers drove home the “mildness” message in many of its Chesterfield ads that featured males. A good portion of these Chesterfield ads even included celebrity endorsements from famous men, including Ronald Reagan.

The deception continued and became increasingly prevalent as low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes gained ground in the 1970s. At this time, Brown & Williamson released Kool Milds in an attempt to attract the health-conscious smoker. B&W continued advertising Kool Milds heavily until 2010, when FDA regulations prohibited tobacco companies from using misleading monikers such as “low” and “mild.” Since this new regulation, Kool has followed other brands in color-coding its cigarettes to indicate “mild” or “low-tar.” It has now repositioned Kool Milds as Kool Blue.

Couples in Love – img0697

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Love and cigarettes, marriage and cigarettes, sex and cigarettes? Nothing is off limits in these tobacco advertisements which feature couples in love. The advertisements work cigarettes into the everyday lives of couples, seemingly bringing couples closer together or enhancing their sexual connection. In the 1920s and 1930s, women were pictured as part of a couple so as to lessen the shock value of women smoking. However, as times changed and women smoking became widely acknowledged, men and women continued to show up together in cigarette advertisements in romantic scenarios. These advertisements were particularly effective at targeting women, capitalizing on the stereotypical female desire to find a husband or be taken care of by a man. Often, however, these ads were also effective for men, who would imagine, after seeing one of the ads, that a woman sensuously falls into a man’s arms with just the whiff of a cigarette or the mingling of fumes.

Mass Marketing Begins – img7558

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As the threat of tobacco prohibition from temperance unions settled down in the late 1920s, tobacco companies became bolder with their approach to targeting women through advertisements, openly targeting women in an attempt to broaden their market and increase sales. The late 1920s saw the beginnings of major mass marketing campaigns designed specifically to target women. “Cigarette manufacturers have for a long time subtly suggested in some of their advertising that women smoked,” a New York Times article from 1927 reveals. But Chesterfield’s 1927 “Blow some my way” campaign was transparent to the public even at the time of printing, and soon after, the campaigns became less and less subtle. In 1928, Lucky Strike introduced its “Cream of the Crop” campaign, featuring celebrity testimonials from female smokers, and then followed with “Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet” in 1929, designed to prey on female insecurities about weight and diet. As the decade turned, many cigarette brands came out of the woodwork and joined in on unabashedly targeting women by illustrating women smoking, rather than hinting at it.

Capri – img1015

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Vapor Couture – img18788

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Unsurprisingly, electronic cigarette (e-cig) companies have followed in the footsteps of the combustible tobacco industry by creating a distinct market pool for women. Vapor Couture is one of two e-cig brands operated and managed by VMR Products. Unlike the marketing of its sister brand, V2 Cigs, Vapor Couture exclusively targets women and markets its product via glamour and femininity.

In it product design, advertising and marketing, Vapor Couture follows in the footsteps of Virginia Slims and Camel 9. The product is slender, with a crystal tip, and is often packaged in a sleek box that resembles a make-up accessory rather than a traditional cigarette case. Additionally, Vapor Couture advertisements attempt to epitomize a woman-only product by emphasizing fashion, accessories, and makeup – all adorned in hot pink, royal purple, and crystal backgrounds. The e-cigs themselves and come in atypical flavor names such as “Bomb Shell” and “Rodeo Drive”. As is well known, “Bomb shell” is a term used to describe attractive women and Rodeo Drive is known as the embodiment of the glam, high-fashion lifestyle in Beverly Hills, California.

Ads for Vapor Couture often feature images of independent and successful women. The ads are accompanied by catchy slogans such as, “Womanly Vaping Experience” and “Made for Women” or “ Your Life. Your Style” and “What’s Your Style?” The slogans suggest the empowerment of women as well as feminine individuality. Vapor Couture’s marketing obviously tries to play off of a certain desired woman’s figure and social image. For Vapor Couture, its e-cigs serve as a chic fashion accessory.

Mild as May – img3274

by

Tobacco companies have been advertising their particular brands as “mild” since the first half of the 20th century. From the start, smokers were aware that smoking irritated the throat, causing discomfort or “smoker’s hack.” Though serious health effects of smoking, like lung cancer, emphysema, and heart attack, were not yet identified in the first half of the 20th century, the seemingly benign side effects such as sore throat and cough were certainly bothersome to smokers. To counteract the sentiment that certain cigarettes were “harsh” and thereby worse for one’s health, cigarette companies began touting “mildness,” a ploy that has lasted well into the 21st century. By reassuring smokers that a particular brand was “mild,” tobacco companies succeeded in hooking consumers and preventing them from quitting.

In the 1930s, Philip Morris used “mildness” in an attempt to attract women, classifying Marlboros as “Mild as May.” Similarly, the American Tobacco Company, always struggling to maintain Lucky Strike’s female consumer base due to the brand’s inherently unfashionable packaging, employed the slogan, “Mildness and Character” along with images of beautiful, sophisticated, rich women. But a cigarette advertised as “mild” was by no means restricted to a female audience. Indeed, in the 1940s and ‘50s, Liggett & Myers drove home the “mildness” message in many of its Chesterfield ads that featured males. A good portion of these Chesterfield ads even included celebrity endorsements from famous men, including Ronald Reagan.

The deception continued and became increasingly prevalent as low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes gained ground in the 1970s. At this time, Brown & Williamson released Kool Milds in an attempt to attract the health-conscious smoker. B&W continued advertising Kool Milds heavily until 2010, when FDA regulations prohibited tobacco companies from using misleading monikers such as “low” and “mild.” Since this new regulation, Kool has followed other brands in color-coding its cigarettes to indicate “mild” or “low-tar.” It has now repositioned Kool Milds as Kool Blue.

Capri – img9941

by

Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Marlboro – img1064

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Capri – img9942

by

Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Vapor Couture – img18790

by

Unsurprisingly, electronic cigarette (e-cig) companies have followed in the footsteps of the combustible tobacco industry by creating a distinct market pool for women. Vapor Couture is one of two e-cig brands operated and managed by VMR Products. Unlike the marketing of its sister brand, V2 Cigs, Vapor Couture exclusively targets women and markets its product via glamour and femininity.

In it product design, advertising and marketing, Vapor Couture follows in the footsteps of Virginia Slims and Camel 9. The product is slender, with a crystal tip, and is often packaged in a sleek box that resembles a make-up accessory rather than a traditional cigarette case. Additionally, Vapor Couture advertisements attempt to epitomize a woman-only product by emphasizing fashion, accessories, and makeup – all adorned in hot pink, royal purple, and crystal backgrounds. The e-cigs themselves and come in atypical flavor names such as “Bomb Shell” and “Rodeo Drive”. As is well known, “Bomb shell” is a term used to describe attractive women and Rodeo Drive is known as the embodiment of the glam, high-fashion lifestyle in Beverly Hills, California.

Ads for Vapor Couture often feature images of independent and successful women. The ads are accompanied by catchy slogans such as, “Womanly Vaping Experience” and “Made for Women” or “ Your Life. Your Style” and “What’s Your Style?” The slogans suggest the empowerment of women as well as feminine individuality. Vapor Couture’s marketing obviously tries to play off of a certain desired woman’s figure and social image. For Vapor Couture, its e-cigs serve as a chic fashion accessory.

Capri – img9943

by

Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Capri – img1017

by

Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Vapor Couture – img23147

by

Unsurprisingly, electronic cigarette (e-cig) companies have followed in the footsteps of the combustible tobacco industry by creating a distinct market pool for women. Vapor Couture is one of two e-cig brands operated and managed by VMR Products. Unlike the marketing of its sister brand, V2 Cigs, Vapor Couture exclusively targets women and markets its product via glamour and femininity.

In it product design, advertising and marketing, Vapor Couture follows in the footsteps of Virginia Slims and Camel 9. The product is slender, with a crystal tip, and is often packaged in a sleek box that resembles a make-up accessory rather than a traditional cigarette case. Additionally, Vapor Couture advertisements attempt to epitomize a woman-only product by emphasizing fashion, accessories, and makeup – all adorned in hot pink, royal purple, and crystal backgrounds. The e-cigs themselves and come in atypical flavor names such as “Bomb Shell” and “Rodeo Drive”. As is well known, “Bomb shell” is a term used to describe attractive women and Rodeo Drive is known as the embodiment of the glam, high-fashion lifestyle in Beverly Hills, California.

Ads for Vapor Couture often feature images of independent and successful women. The ads are accompanied by catchy slogans such as, “Womanly Vaping Experience” and “Made for Women” or “ Your Life. Your Style” and “What’s Your Style?” The slogans suggest the empowerment of women as well as feminine individuality. Vapor Couture’s marketing obviously tries to play off of a certain desired woman’s figure and social image. For Vapor Couture, its e-cigs serve as a chic fashion accessory.

Vapor Couture – img23148

by

Unsurprisingly, electronic cigarette (e-cig) companies have followed in the footsteps of the combustible tobacco industry by creating a distinct market pool for women. Vapor Couture is one of two e-cig brands operated and managed by VMR Products. Unlike the marketing of its sister brand, V2 Cigs, Vapor Couture exclusively targets women and markets its product via glamour and femininity.

In it product design, advertising and marketing, Vapor Couture follows in the footsteps of Virginia Slims and Camel 9. The product is slender, with a crystal tip, and is often packaged in a sleek box that resembles a make-up accessory rather than a traditional cigarette case. Additionally, Vapor Couture advertisements attempt to epitomize a woman-only product by emphasizing fashion, accessories, and makeup – all adorned in hot pink, royal purple, and crystal backgrounds. The e-cigs themselves and come in atypical flavor names such as “Bomb Shell” and “Rodeo Drive”. As is well known, “Bomb shell” is a term used to describe attractive women and Rodeo Drive is known as the embodiment of the glam, high-fashion lifestyle in Beverly Hills, California.

Ads for Vapor Couture often feature images of independent and successful women. The ads are accompanied by catchy slogans such as, “Womanly Vaping Experience” and “Made for Women” or “ Your Life. Your Style” and “What’s Your Style?” The slogans suggest the empowerment of women as well as feminine individuality. Vapor Couture’s marketing obviously tries to play off of a certain desired woman’s figure and social image. For Vapor Couture, its e-cigs serve as a chic fashion accessory.

Sex Sells – img3795

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Tobacco companies know as much as anybody that “sex sells,” and they have no qualms with making use of phallic symbols or with objectifying women to sell their products.

Beginning in the 1880s and lasting well into the 20th century, cigarette manufacturers placed a piece of cardstock inside every pack of cigarettes so the packs would maintain their shape. They soon began including pictures of provocative women in lingerie on the cardstock (as well as images of baseball players, the precursor to collectable baseball cards) in order to attract more men into purchasing the cigarettes. Eroticism continued to play a large role in cigarette advertisements, and by the late 1930s, pin-up girls were frequently used in cigarette advertisements to appeal further to male audiences.

As the advertising business matured over time, so too did its foray into selling products through sex, at times blatantly obvious, and in other moments alluringly subtle. The 1968 Tiparillo advertisements, in the “Should a gentleman offer a Tiparillo” campaign, are shameless in their objectification of women, featuring scantily clad or nearly nude models baring absurd amounts of cleavage. Other tobacco ads exploit the “sex sells” market through innuendo and subliminal messaging. Many ads use phallic imagery to associate tobacco products with masculinity and virility. A 1997 ad for Celestino cigars, for example, features a man holding a giant surfboard, which on the surface resembles a giant cigar; closer inspection reveals that the surfboard/cigar duo is also a phallic symbol, allying the cigar brand with extreme masculinity. Similarly subtle, an ad for Greys cigarettes, from the late 1930s, displays a depiction of a man with a drooping cigarette “before smoking Greys,” and then with an erect cigarette “after smoking greys.” Additionally, the man, who had previously been bald, has managed to grow a full head of hair after smoking the cigarette! An L&M ad from 1962 follows the same tactics; a man’s cigarette sticks straight up as he glances over at a woman, who eyes his cigarette as she sensuously takes one of her own. The slogan below the image reads, “When a cigarette means a lot…”

Perhaps the most recognizable recent campaign to use such techniques is the Joe Camel campaign, which lasted up until 1999; Joe Camel’s face is drawn to resemble a scrotum. More recently still, 21st century Silk Cut admen were masters of subliminal messaging. One Silk Cut ad, for example, features a piece of silk with a hole cut out, a can with a sharp point aimed directly at the hole, and a torn piece of silk hanging off the can’s point to indicate insertion has been made.

This theme merely grazes the surface of the extent to which tobacco advertisements rely on sex to sell their products.

Couples in Love – img0703

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Love and cigarettes, marriage and cigarettes, sex and cigarettes? Nothing is off limits in these tobacco advertisements which feature couples in love. The advertisements work cigarettes into the everyday lives of couples, seemingly bringing couples closer together or enhancing their sexual connection. In the 1920s and 1930s, women were pictured as part of a couple so as to lessen the shock value of women smoking. However, as times changed and women smoking became widely acknowledged, men and women continued to show up together in cigarette advertisements in romantic scenarios. These advertisements were particularly effective at targeting women, capitalizing on the stereotypical female desire to find a husband or be taken care of by a man. Often, however, these ads were also effective for men, who would imagine, after seeing one of the ads, that a woman sensuously falls into a man’s arms with just the whiff of a cigarette or the mingling of fumes.

Early Years – img7540

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In the early 1900s, it was not considered socially acceptable for women to smoke in public, but according to a newspaper article from Aug 9, 1919, “Smoking in public by women has ceased to shock for ten years past.” One New York Times article from October 7, 1919, cited British women as having a “large share in doubling cigarette sales since 1914.” The article claims that some women “can’t even hang out the washing unless they have a cigarette in their mouths.” As early as 1915, Cambridge University was polling parents as to whether its female students should be allowed to smoke on campus. At the time, women were clearly interested in smoking, but it was not accepted by the entirety of the general public.

It was becoming clear that women were beginning to make up quite a bit of the market share for many cigarette brands, and it was only a matter of time before the brands started targeting women directly with advertising. Another 1919 article, this one written by a woman in the Daily Mirror, states that “most women smoke for effect: merely to be up-to-date” and to avoid the “horror of being thought to harbour old-fashioned ideas nowadays.” If it was a look women were after, the tobacco companies capitalized on this trend, featuring beautiful, glamorous, “up-to-date” women smoking cigarettes in their print advertisements, furthering the prevalence of the image of the modern smoking woman and making it seem more and more like smoking was “something that everybody does.”

The 1920s saw a boom in advertisements marketing cigarettes to women, though the tobacco companies feared the prohibition activists who were prominent from 1920-1933. Indeed, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was displeased when women began smoking in public, and in 1920 the WCTU stated that it would work to prevent women and youth from smoking. In 1921, prohibition groups were appealing to state governments to pass anti-tobacco legislation, hoping for an ultimate constitutional amendment banning tobacco. It wasn’t until after these prohibition activists became less of a threat that the major mass marketing efforts by tobacco companies targeting women would begin. However, well before these major mass marketing efforts, tobacco ads targeting women were present – though more subtle – marketing cigarette smoking as a method of evoking femininity or of providing an alluring fragrance for women.

Marlboro – img1059

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Capri – img1033

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Celebrity Vapors – img22930

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The growing popularity of e-cigarettes has led its manufacturers to leave no stone unturned in marketing to consumers. Taking a page out of the tobacco advertising playbook used in the mid 20th century, e-cigarette (e-cig) manufacturers are using celebrity endorsements to drum up enthusiasm for their products and hook teenagers. With celebrities endorsing e-cigs, billed as the “healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes,” smoking or in this case vaping of e-cigs has become a fashion statement once again.

As there are no marketing restrictions on e-cigs, slick television ads of celebrities puffing away on their personal vaporizers frequently bombard the airwaves. In Blu’s campaign, Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy urge people to take back their independence with the slogan “Rise from the Ashes.” The Blu ads featuring Dorff are so popular that he has become synonymous with the brand. In a recent interview, he said that people come up to him all the time and ask about the Blu e-cigarette. “I’m like the Blu man group,” Dorff said in the interview. In the ad featuring McCarthy, black and white shots of her exhaling smoke, highlight the blue tip of Blu e-cigs and make the entire experience look cool. In the ad, she goes on to say the best part of her e-cigarette is that she can use it ‘‘without scaring that special someone away’’ and can avoid kisses that ‘‘taste like an ashtray’’ when she’s out at her favorite club. Ads for e-cig manufacturer NJOY feature rocker Courtney Love, in an expletive-laced ad, in which supporters of indoor smoking bans are portrayed as “stuffy” and “stuck-up,” while
the rocker is portrayed as free-spirited and independent. e-cig companies have even photoshopped yesteryear celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Lennon using their products in ads.

Apart from direct endorsements by celebrities, there have also been subtle attempts by celebrities to promote e-cigs in movies and television shows. In an appearance on the David Letterman show, Katherine Heigl was seen vaping a Smokestik and proclaiming that she was addicted to the product, but it “wasn’t bad for you”. When CBS’s Two Broke Girls accosted their new, noisy upstairs neighbor, they were greeted at the door by Jennifer Coolidge with an e-cig in hand. Sean Penn was seen vaping an Njoy while talking about his work at Haiti at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Much like big tobacco in the past, e-cig companies are exploiting their association with Hollywood. e-cig manufacturers waste no opportunity in posting pictures of celebrities and films that use their products through their social media channels and websites. For instance, Blu e-cig’s Facebook page has a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio smoking what they claim is a Blu e-cig while filming Django Unchained. Blu e-cig’s website asks its customers to take a look at a film called “Plurality” because of the use of their e-cig in the film and provide a web link to the film’s trailer as well as a synopsis.

The insidious practice by big tobacco companies to use celebrity endorsements and testimonials for hawking their products was the norm during the 1920s to 1960s. The practice ended only in 1964 when the FDA banned it.

1. Eliott, S. (2013, August 29). E-Cigarette Makers’ Ads Echo Tobacco’s Heyday. New York Times.
Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/business/media/e-cigarette-makers-ads-
echo-tobaccos-heyday.html.

2. Johnson, G.A. (2013, October 16). Stephen Dorff: Actor a hot commodity in ads, films. San
Francisco Chronicle. Available at http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Stephen-Dorff-Actor-a-
hot-commodity-in-ads-films-4901477.php

Objectifying Women – img0769

by

Tobacco companies know as much as the next guy – sex sells – and they have no qualms with objectifying women to sell their product. As early as the 1930s, cigarette advertisements featured sexy women to lure men to the brand, and by the late 1930s, pin-up girls were frequently used on cigarette advertisements to appeal to male audiences. The Tiparillo advertisements in the “Should a gentleman offer a Tiparillo…: campaign (1968) are shameless in their objectification of women, with the models showing cleavage (plus) as well as intense eye contact. As expected, recent advertisements of the 1990s and 2000s are no better, as such images become more commonplace in modern times. These ads target youth explicitly. Though they primarily attract young men, they also manipulate young women into believing that a certain brand of cigarette might make her sexier and more attractive to men.

Capri – img1038

by

Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Celebrity Endorsers – img22901

by

The growing popularity of e-cigarettes has led its manufacturers to leave no stone unturned in marketing to consumers. Taking a page out of the tobacco advertising playbook used in the mid 20th century, e-cigarette (e-cig) manufacturers are using celebrity endorsements to drum up enthusiasm for their products and hook teenagers. With celebrities endorsing e-cigs, billed as the “healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes,” smoking or in this case vaping of e-cigs has become a fashion statement once again.

As there are no marketing restrictions on e-cigs, slick television ads of celebrities puffing away on their personal vaporizers frequently bombard the airwaves. In Blu’s campaign, Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy urge people to take back their independence with the slogan “Rise from the Ashes.” The Blu ads featuring Dorff are so popular that he has become synonymous with the brand. In a recent interview, he said that people come up to him all the time and ask about the Blu e-cigarette. “I’m like the Blu man group,” Dorff said in the interview. In the ad featuring McCarthy, black and white shots of her exhaling smoke, highlight the blue tip of Blu e-cigs and make the entire experience look cool. In the ad, she goes on to say the best part of her e-cigarette is that she can use it ‘‘without scaring that special someone away’’ and can avoid kisses that ‘‘taste like an ashtray’’ when she’s out at her favorite club. Ads for e-cig manufacturer NJOY feature rocker Courtney Love, in an expletive-laced ad, in which supporters of indoor smoking bans are portrayed as “stuffy” and “stuck-up,” while
the rocker is portrayed as free-spirited and independent. e-cig companies have even photoshopped yesteryear celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Lennon using their products in ads.

Apart from direct endorsements by celebrities, there have also been subtle attempts by celebrities to promote e-cigs in movies and television shows. In an appearance on the David Letterman show, Katherine Heigl was seen vaping a Smokestik and proclaiming that she was addicted to the product, but it “wasn’t bad for you”. When CBS’s Two Broke Girls accosted their new, noisy upstairs neighbor, they were greeted at the door by Jennifer Coolidge with an e-cig in hand. Sean Penn was seen vaping an Njoy while talking about his work at Haiti at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Much like big tobacco in the past, e-cig companies are exploiting their association with Hollywood. e-cig manufacturers waste no opportunity in posting pictures of celebrities and films that use their products through their social media channels and websites. For instance, Blu e-cig’s Facebook page has a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio smoking what they claim is a Blu e-cig while filming Django Unchained. Blu e-cig’s website asks its customers to take a look at a film called “Plurality” because of the use of their e-cig in the film and provide a web link to the film’s trailer as well as a synopsis.

The insidious practice by big tobacco companies to use celebrity endorsements and testimonials for hawking their products was the norm during the 1920s to 1960s. The practice ended only in 1964 when the FDA banned it.

1. Eliott, S. (2013, August 29). E-Cigarette Makers’ Ads Echo Tobacco’s Heyday. New York Times.
Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/business/media/e-cigarette-makers-ads-
echo-tobaccos-heyday.html.

2. Johnson, G.A. (2013, October 16). Stephen Dorff: Actor a hot commodity in ads, films. San
Francisco Chronicle. Available at http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Stephen-Dorff-Actor-a-
hot-commodity-in-ads-films-4901477.php

Celebrity Vapors – img22931

by

The growing popularity of e-cigarettes has led its manufacturers to leave no stone unturned in marketing to consumers. Taking a page out of the tobacco advertising playbook used in the mid 20th century, e-cigarette (e-cig) manufacturers are using celebrity endorsements to drum up enthusiasm for their products and hook teenagers. With celebrities endorsing e-cigs, billed as the “healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes,” smoking or in this case vaping of e-cigs has become a fashion statement once again.

As there are no marketing restrictions on e-cigs, slick television ads of celebrities puffing away on their personal vaporizers frequently bombard the airwaves. In Blu’s campaign, Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy urge people to take back their independence with the slogan “Rise from the Ashes.” The Blu ads featuring Dorff are so popular that he has become synonymous with the brand. In a recent interview, he said that people come up to him all the time and ask about the Blu e-cigarette. “I’m like the Blu man group,” Dorff said in the interview. In the ad featuring McCarthy, black and white shots of her exhaling smoke, highlight the blue tip of Blu e-cigs and make the entire experience look cool. In the ad, she goes on to say the best part of her e-cigarette is that she can use it ‘‘without scaring that special someone away’’ and can avoid kisses that ‘‘taste like an ashtray’’ when she’s out at her favorite club. Ads for e-cig manufacturer NJOY feature rocker Courtney Love, in an expletive-laced ad, in which supporters of indoor smoking bans are portrayed as “stuffy” and “stuck-up,” while
the rocker is portrayed as free-spirited and independent. e-cig companies have even photoshopped yesteryear celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Lennon using their products in ads.

Apart from direct endorsements by celebrities, there have also been subtle attempts by celebrities to promote e-cigs in movies and television shows. In an appearance on the David Letterman show, Katherine Heigl was seen vaping a Smokestik and proclaiming that she was addicted to the product, but it “wasn’t bad for you”. When CBS’s Two Broke Girls accosted their new, noisy upstairs neighbor, they were greeted at the door by Jennifer Coolidge with an e-cig in hand. Sean Penn was seen vaping an Njoy while talking about his work at Haiti at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Much like big tobacco in the past, e-cig companies are exploiting their association with Hollywood. e-cig manufacturers waste no opportunity in posting pictures of celebrities and films that use their products through their social media channels and websites. For instance, Blu e-cig’s Facebook page has a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio smoking what they claim is a Blu e-cig while filming Django Unchained. Blu e-cig’s website asks its customers to take a look at a film called “Plurality” because of the use of their e-cig in the film and provide a web link to the film’s trailer as well as a synopsis.

The insidious practice by big tobacco companies to use celebrity endorsements and testimonials for hawking their products was the norm during the 1920s to 1960s. The practice ended only in 1964 when the FDA banned it.

1. Eliott, S. (2013, August 29). E-Cigarette Makers’ Ads Echo Tobacco’s Heyday. New York Times.
Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/business/media/e-cigarette-makers-ads-
echo-tobaccos-heyday.html.

2. Johnson, G.A. (2013, October 16). Stephen Dorff: Actor a hot commodity in ads, films. San
Francisco Chronicle. Available at http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Stephen-Dorff-Actor-a-
hot-commodity-in-ads-films-4901477.php

Vapor Couture – img23152

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Unsurprisingly, electronic cigarette (e-cig) companies have followed in the footsteps of the combustible tobacco industry by creating a distinct market pool for women. Vapor Couture is one of two e-cig brands operated and managed by VMR Products. Unlike the marketing of its sister brand, V2 Cigs, Vapor Couture exclusively targets women and markets its product via glamour and femininity.

In it product design, advertising and marketing, Vapor Couture follows in the footsteps of Virginia Slims and Camel 9. The product is slender, with a crystal tip, and is often packaged in a sleek box that resembles a make-up accessory rather than a traditional cigarette case. Additionally, Vapor Couture advertisements attempt to epitomize a woman-only product by emphasizing fashion, accessories, and makeup – all adorned in hot pink, royal purple, and crystal backgrounds. The e-cigs themselves and come in atypical flavor names such as “Bomb Shell” and “Rodeo Drive”. As is well known, “Bomb shell” is a term used to describe attractive women and Rodeo Drive is known as the embodiment of the glam, high-fashion lifestyle in Beverly Hills, California.

Ads for Vapor Couture often feature images of independent and successful women. The ads are accompanied by catchy slogans such as, “Womanly Vaping Experience” and “Made for Women” or “ Your Life. Your Style” and “What’s Your Style?” The slogans suggest the empowerment of women as well as feminine individuality. Vapor Couture’s marketing obviously tries to play off of a certain desired woman’s figure and social image. For Vapor Couture, its e-cigs serve as a chic fashion accessory.

Capri – img1032

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Celebrity Endorsers – img22902

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The growing popularity of e-cigarettes has led its manufacturers to leave no stone unturned in marketing to consumers. Taking a page out of the tobacco advertising playbook used in the mid 20th century, e-cigarette (e-cig) manufacturers are using celebrity endorsements to drum up enthusiasm for their products and hook teenagers. With celebrities endorsing e-cigs, billed as the “healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes,” smoking or in this case vaping of e-cigs has become a fashion statement once again.

As there are no marketing restrictions on e-cigs, slick television ads of celebrities puffing away on their personal vaporizers frequently bombard the airwaves. In Blu’s campaign, Stephen Dorff and Jenny McCarthy urge people to take back their independence with the slogan “Rise from the Ashes.” The Blu ads featuring Dorff are so popular that he has become synonymous with the brand. In a recent interview, he said that people come up to him all the time and ask about the Blu e-cigarette. “I’m like the Blu man group,” Dorff said in the interview. In the ad featuring McCarthy, black and white shots of her exhaling smoke, highlight the blue tip of Blu e-cigs and make the entire experience look cool. In the ad, she goes on to say the best part of her e-cigarette is that she can use it ‘‘without scaring that special someone away’’ and can avoid kisses that ‘‘taste like an ashtray’’ when she’s out at her favorite club. Ads for e-cig manufacturer NJOY feature rocker Courtney Love, in an expletive-laced ad, in which supporters of indoor smoking bans are portrayed as “stuffy” and “stuck-up,” while
the rocker is portrayed as free-spirited and independent. e-cig companies have even photoshopped yesteryear celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, John Lennon using their products in ads.

Apart from direct endorsements by celebrities, there have also been subtle attempts by celebrities to promote e-cigs in movies and television shows. In an appearance on the David Letterman show, Katherine Heigl was seen vaping a Smokestik and proclaiming that she was addicted to the product, but it “wasn’t bad for you”. When CBS’s Two Broke Girls accosted their new, noisy upstairs neighbor, they were greeted at the door by Jennifer Coolidge with an e-cig in hand. Sean Penn was seen vaping an Njoy while talking about his work at Haiti at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Much like big tobacco in the past, e-cig companies are exploiting their association with Hollywood. e-cig manufacturers waste no opportunity in posting pictures of celebrities and films that use their products through their social media channels and websites. For instance, Blu e-cig’s Facebook page has a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio smoking what they claim is a Blu e-cig while filming Django Unchained. Blu e-cig’s website asks its customers to take a look at a film called “Plurality” because of the use of their e-cig in the film and provide a web link to the film’s trailer as well as a synopsis.

The insidious practice by big tobacco companies to use celebrity endorsements and testimonials for hawking their products was the norm during the 1920s to 1960s. The practice ended only in 1964 when the FDA banned it.

1. Eliott, S. (2013, August 29). E-Cigarette Makers’ Ads Echo Tobacco’s Heyday. New York Times.
Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/business/media/e-cigarette-makers-ads-
echo-tobaccos-heyday.html.

2. Johnson, G.A. (2013, October 16). Stephen Dorff: Actor a hot commodity in ads, films. San
Francisco Chronicle. Available at http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Stephen-Dorff-Actor-a-
hot-commodity-in-ads-films-4901477.php

Vapor Couture – img23153

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Unsurprisingly, electronic cigarette (e-cig) companies have followed in the footsteps of the combustible tobacco industry by creating a distinct market pool for women. Vapor Couture is one of two e-cig brands operated and managed by VMR Products. Unlike the marketing of its sister brand, V2 Cigs, Vapor Couture exclusively targets women and markets its product via glamour and femininity.

In it product design, advertising and marketing, Vapor Couture follows in the footsteps of Virginia Slims and Camel 9. The product is slender, with a crystal tip, and is often packaged in a sleek box that resembles a make-up accessory rather than a traditional cigarette case. Additionally, Vapor Couture advertisements attempt to epitomize a woman-only product by emphasizing fashion, accessories, and makeup – all adorned in hot pink, royal purple, and crystal backgrounds. The e-cigs themselves and come in atypical flavor names such as “Bomb Shell” and “Rodeo Drive”. As is well known, “Bomb shell” is a term used to describe attractive women and Rodeo Drive is known as the embodiment of the glam, high-fashion lifestyle in Beverly Hills, California.

Ads for Vapor Couture often feature images of independent and successful women. The ads are accompanied by catchy slogans such as, “Womanly Vaping Experience” and “Made for Women” or “ Your Life. Your Style” and “What’s Your Style?” The slogans suggest the empowerment of women as well as feminine individuality. Vapor Couture’s marketing obviously tries to play off of a certain desired woman’s figure and social image. For Vapor Couture, its e-cigs serve as a chic fashion accessory.

Modern Menthol – img1907

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This theme contains ads which represent a variety of the leading menthol brands, particularly Salem and Kool. A few recent ads for the mentholated versions of Winstons, Vantage, Marlboro, and Camel are also included. These ads are clearly marketed toward a younger, urban demographic. Additionally, many of the ads feature models of a variety of ethnicities, and African Americans are particularly targeted. The ads reveal the ludicrous targeting techniques employed by menthol brands and the lengths to which they will go in order to gain a stronger market share over youths and African Americans, the leading consumers of menthol cigarettes.

Recent Salem ads from the 2000s feature the slogan, “Stir the senses,” and each ad depicts a model smoking in green, mentholated ecstasy. Other Salem ads from the 2000s reveal clear youth targeting through a risk-taking appeal. For example, one of the ads presents an “underground” party, another presents a couple with an intertwining, extreme tattoo, and a third presents a scantily clad woman riding on the back of a man’s motorcycle – all in urban settings. The 1990s saw Salem’s “Refreshest” campaign, which targeted teens and adolescents with mind-boggling images like a woman relaxing on a pool floatie inside of a grand piano filled with water, or, similarly, a couple lounging in the pick-up of a truck, also filled with water. Earlier Salem ads (“Salem Spirit”) from the 1980s used a technique largely reminiscent of Newport’s long-lived “Pleasure” campaign, spotlighting groups of young friends having fun in athletic, outdoorsy settings. All of these ads blatantly target youth.

Kool’s advertisements from 2005 used the slogan “Be True,” which urged consumers to not only be true to themselves, but also to be true and loyal to the brand. Accompanying the “Be True” slogan was a variety of phrases such as “Be Passionate,” “Be Original,” “Be Smooth,” and “Be Bold,” all of which appeal to adolescents and young adults trying to “find themselves” and develop a sense of self. The “Be True” ads largely feature musicians, ranging from guitar players to disc jockeys, and their ethnicities are also noticeably diverse. In our collection, Asians, African Americans, and Caucasians are all represented in the “Be True” ad campaign. Other Kool campaigns from the 2000s, like “House of Menthol,” are more transparently urban-oriented, featuring boom boxes, speaker systems, microphones, graffiti, or skyscrapers. A subset of these ads features the “Kool Mixx” which claims to “celebrate the soundtrack to the streets” through limited edition cigarette packs. Urban youth were clearly a priority.

As of 2011, almost half of all 12- to 17-year-old smokers prefer menthols, while the total market share of menthols claims only 30% of all smokers (1). Additionally, according to one study conducted in 2006, 62.4% of middle school students who had smoked for less than a year tended to smoke menthols (2). Data like this has lead many experts, including the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC), to believe that the presence of menthols on the market increase the rate of smoking initiation. Additionally, government surveys in 2011 revealed that menthol cigarettes dominate 30% of the overall market, and over 80% of black smokers prefer menthol as opposed to 22% of non-Hispanic white smokers (1).

Wilson, Duff. “Advisory Panel urges F.D.A. to re-examine menthol in cigarettes.” The New York Times. 18 March 2011. .

Hersey J.C. et al. “Are menthol cigarettes a starter product for youth?” Nicotine & Tobacco Research. June 2006. 8:3;403-413. .

Capri – img1016

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Objectifying Women – img0772

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Tobacco companies know as much as the next guy – sex sells – and they have no qualms with objectifying women to sell their product. As early as the 1930s, cigarette advertisements featured sexy women to lure men to the brand, and by the late 1930s, pin-up girls were frequently used on cigarette advertisements to appeal to male audiences. The Tiparillo advertisements in the “Should a gentleman offer a Tiparillo…: campaign (1968) are shameless in their objectification of women, with the models showing cleavage (plus) as well as intense eye contact. As expected, recent advertisements of the 1990s and 2000s are no better, as such images become more commonplace in modern times. These ads target youth explicitly. Though they primarily attract young men, they also manipulate young women into believing that a certain brand of cigarette might make her sexier and more attractive to men.

Tobacco companies know as much as the next guy – sex sells – and they have no qualms with objectifying women to sell their product. As early as the 1930s, cigarette advertisements featured sexy women to lure men to the brand, and by the late 1930s, pin-up girls were frequently used on cigarette advertisements to appeal to male audiences. The Tiparillo advertisements in the “Should a gentleman offer a Tiparillo…: campaign (1968) are shameless in their objectification of women, with the models showing cleavage (plus) as well as intense eye contact. As expected, recent advertisements of the 1990s and 2000s are no better, as such images become more commonplace in modern times. These ads target youth explicitly. Though they primarily attract young men, they also manipulate young women into believing that a certain brand of cigarette might make her sexier and more attractive to men.

Capri – img1021

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Ultra Light – img8935

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The ads in this theme outline the deceptive advertisement campaigns for “Ultra Light” cigarettes, a sub-category of so-called “light” cigarettes which is supposed to contain even less tar and nicotine. Sometimes referred to simply as “Ultra” cigarettes, Ultra Lights came into popularity in the early 1980s, and generally reported about half the tar and nicotine content of ordinary Light cigarettes. Many of the ads within this theme present ultra lights as carefree, However, the FDA has determined that all categories of previously-deemed “Light” cigarettes are no safer than regular cigarettes. In fact, internal industry documents reveal that from the very beginning, tobacco companies were well aware that smokers compensated for the low-nicotine draw from light cigarettes by changing their smoking behaviors.

“Light” cigarettes came in varying degrees of reported “tar” delivery levels. According to a Philip Morris Inter-office memo from 1987, those cigarettes which have tar delivery levels of less than 14 mg are considered “Light” and those with levels under 6 mg are considered “Ultra Light” (1). These designations were generic categories that extended across cigarette brands.

Ultra Light cigarettes, like Lights, are no safer than other cigarettes, but have been misleadingly portrayed as such by tobacco companies. Since the FDA was granted regulatory authority over tobacco products in 2009, it has begun to crack down on these designations, banning tobacco companies from using words such as “mild,” “low,” or “light” as of July, 2010. Unsurprisingly, tobacco manufacturers have figured out a creative way to escape this regulation: Now, they rely on color-coding: red indicates regular; dark green indicates menthol; light green, blue, or gold indicate previously “light” cigarettes; and silver or orange indicate previously “ultra light” cigarettes. A 2007 ad for Pall Mall, featured in this theme, reveals that the tobacco companies were prepared for this change: “BRIGHT NOW. Introducing Orange Box for Ultra Light.” The other designations and their corresponding pack colors are also featured so that consumers could figure out which color indicated which “health” designation for future purchases.

1. Weintraub, Jeff. “Identification Based on ‘Tar’ Deliveries.’ 9 Nov 1987. Philip Morris. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/jcj16e00

Capri – img1022

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Marlboro – img1066

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Modern Menthol – img1906

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This theme contains ads which represent a variety of the leading menthol brands, particularly Salem and Kool. A few recent ads for the mentholated versions of Winstons, Vantage, Marlboro, and Camel are also included. These ads are clearly marketed toward a younger, urban demographic. Additionally, many of the ads feature models of a variety of ethnicities, and African Americans are particularly targeted. The ads reveal the ludicrous targeting techniques employed by menthol brands and the lengths to which they will go in order to gain a stronger market share over youths and African Americans, the leading consumers of menthol cigarettes.

Recent Salem ads from the 2000s feature the slogan, “Stir the senses,” and each ad depicts a model smoking in green, mentholated ecstasy. Other Salem ads from the 2000s reveal clear youth targeting through a risk-taking appeal. For example, one of the ads presents an “underground” party, another presents a couple with an intertwining, extreme tattoo, and a third presents a scantily clad woman riding on the back of a man’s motorcycle – all in urban settings. The 1990s saw Salem’s “Refreshest” campaign, which targeted teens and adolescents with mind-boggling images like a woman relaxing on a pool floatie inside of a grand piano filled with water, or, similarly, a couple lounging in the pick-up of a truck, also filled with water. Earlier Salem ads (“Salem Spirit”) from the 1980s used a technique largely reminiscent of Newport’s long-lived “Pleasure” campaign, spotlighting groups of young friends having fun in athletic, outdoorsy settings. All of these ads blatantly target youth.

Kool’s advertisements from 2005 used the slogan “Be True,” which urged consumers to not only be true to themselves, but also to be true and loyal to the brand. Accompanying the “Be True” slogan was a variety of phrases such as “Be Passionate,” “Be Original,” “Be Smooth,” and “Be Bold,” all of which appeal to adolescents and young adults trying to “find themselves” and develop a sense of self. The “Be True” ads largely feature musicians, ranging from guitar players to disc jockeys, and their ethnicities are also noticeably diverse. In our collection, Asians, African Americans, and Caucasians are all represented in the “Be True” ad campaign. Other Kool campaigns from the 2000s, like “House of Menthol,” are more transparently urban-oriented, featuring boom boxes, speaker systems, microphones, graffiti, or skyscrapers. A subset of these ads features the “Kool Mixx” which claims to “celebrate the soundtrack to the streets” through limited edition cigarette packs. Urban youth were clearly a priority.

As of 2011, almost half of all 12- to 17-year-old smokers prefer menthols, while the total market share of menthols claims only 30% of all smokers (1). Additionally, according to one study conducted in 2006, 62.4% of middle school students who had smoked for less than a year tended to smoke menthols (2). Data like this has lead many experts, including the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC), to believe that the presence of menthols on the market increase the rate of smoking initiation. Additionally, government surveys in 2011 revealed that menthol cigarettes dominate 30% of the overall market, and over 80% of black smokers prefer menthol as opposed to 22% of non-Hispanic white smokers (1).

Wilson, Duff. “Advisory Panel urges F.D.A. to re-examine menthol in cigarettes.” The New York Times. 18 March 2011. .

Hersey J.C. et al. “Are menthol cigarettes a starter product for youth?” Nicotine & Tobacco Research. June 2006. 8:3;403-413. .

High Fashion – img0609

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Throughout the decades, tobacco companies have capitalized on fashion, glamour and beauty to market their products to women. Most notably, in 1934, Lucky Strike staged a “Green Ball” at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria, with every intention of making green, the then-color of a Lucky Strike pack, more fashionable for women so they would buy Luckies; fashion designers, reporters, socialites and many other influential people in the fashion world were in attendance at the Green Ball, while everyone thought some mysterious benefactor hosted the event. The 1920s saw the fashionable yet daring woman emerge in cigarette ads, while the 1930s saw a glamorous beauty, dripping in luxury. The Great Depression was the impetus for this latter type of woman, dressed in a ball gown, fur and gloves and jewels. The everyday woman could live vicariously, or might feel that she could adopt some of that luxury for herself by smoking the brand of cigarette advertised. Often, tobacco companies turned to chic celebrities to hawk their products, relying on their trendsetting ways to make the sell. Fashion trends change, but tobacco companies’ addiction to manipulating women through these trends has not changed. The models in Virginia Slims advertisements of the 1980s wore fashions which scream ‘80s, and the women in the ads of today can be seen in anything from trendy resort wear in a tropical setting to skin-revealing club wear. Whatever the case, tobacco companies know that if a woman sees a model in an ad who looks attractive, she will want to emulate her.

Capri – img1023

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Capri – img1024

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Sex Sells – img21463

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Tobacco companies know as much as anybody that “sex sells,” and they have no qualms with making use of phallic symbols or with objectifying women to sell their products.

Blu, the leading brand of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs), placed an advertisement for its product in February 2014. The ad featured the Blu logo front and center on an itsy bitsy bikini bottom of a shapely model. On the online version of the ad you could even zoom in on the picture. You don’t see the woman’s face only her belly button to her legs. Accompanying the ad was the slogan “Slim. Charged. Ready to Go.” The obvious sexual reference of the slogan is hard to miss. Blu also sponsored parties at Playboy’s top party schools that allowed partygoers to meet the Playmates. Playboy itself got into the act by creating its own Playboy e-cigs. Some of the ads for the Playboy e-cigs with the trademarked bunny symbol advertised free condoms with the purchase of the vapor device.

Phantom Smoke is a brand that in their advertising is shameless in its objectification of women. Many of the ads feature skimpily clothed women in subservient positions to men. An ad for PhatomSmoke has a woman suggestively sitting in the bathtub with the e-hookah between her teeth. Her lingerie is carelessly discarded on the rim of the bathtub. In another ad, a woman wearing racy black lingerie is on the floor holding onto an out stretched leg of a man sitting on a couch with an e-cig in his hand. An ad for Krave e-cigs has a woman dressed in a bodysuit sitting on a side of a sofa her legs slightly apart as she gazes towards the viewer.

Other tobacco ads exploit the “sex sells” market through innuendo and subliminal messaging. Many ads use phallic imagery.

Apart from online and print advertisements that exploit sex to sell the product, online videos are replete with sexual innuendo. An online video for Blu exploits sex to promote a cessation message. An ad for VIP e-cig featured a sultry-looking woman saying: “I want you to get it out. I want to see it. Feel it. Hold it. Put it in my mouth. I want to see how great it tastes.” The online and TV ad, which ran in Britain, attracted 937 complaints about its “overtly sexual” tone.

Pink eCigs – img18826

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Electronic Cigarette (e-cig) companies are targeting women through female only brands such as Vapor Couture and Luli, as well as through dual sex brands such as V2 Cigs, Veppo, and Fin. In the case of the latter, some e-cig companies resort to advertisements that feature highly successful and independent women carrying out activities that have for long been considered the bastion of men. In the case of the former, e-cig companies market to women through advertisements that suggest girly, playful and stylish themes.

In these ads it is common to see pink e-cigs placed next to a bunch of red roses, or lipstick tubes, and compact containers. The intent of the imagery is to allow women to associate e-cigs as a harmless fashion accessory that is as important and essential as a makeup mirror or a tube of lipstick.

A common ploy adopted by many of the e-cig companies is to co-opt social /health causes for their own advantage. In 1992, the pink ribbon became the official symbol for breast cancer awareness. Since the adoption of the pink ribbon, the color pink has is often associated with support of breast cancer survivors, as well as women solidarity. By using the prink ribbon on their advertisements, many e-cig companies are attempting to earn goodwill from the public as well as suggest to potential consumers that there is nothing harmful about the product. For instance, an EverSmoke ad shows the torso of a woman with her breast covered by her hand and the pink breast cancer ribbon. The slogan reads “Save a Life. Save a Lung. Save a Boob.” At a time when no research had been done into the health effects of e-cigs this is a highly immoral advertising tactic, designed to play on people's fears of an often-fatal disease.

Protects Your Health – img1960

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This theme features a variety of ads professing health benefits for filter cigarettes, although filters did little to truly reduce the hazards of smoking. Indeed, tobacco industry chemists were well aware that most filters actually removed no more tar and nicotine than would the same length of tobacco. However, a series of Reader’s Digest articles worked to publicize these dubious health claims for filters in the 1950s.

One such article, entitled “How Harmful are Cigarettes?” (1950), notes that artificial filters “take out some nicotine” since people are “aware that nicotine is a killer” (1). The article states that silica-gel cartridges remove 60% of nicotine from cigarettes. This article spurred Viceroy to print advertisements a week later which read, “Reader's Digest tells why filtered cigarette smoke is better for your health.” These health claims sparked a boom in Viceroy cigarette sales as well as an onslaught of new filter cigarette brands flooding the market. Kent was introduced in 1952 with a filter made of treated asbestos on crepe paper. In 1953, L&M followed with a “miracle tip” and Philip Morris advertised its di-ethylene glycol (Di-Gl) filter cigarette as “the cigarette that takes the FEAR out of smoking.” In the next two years, Marlboro was re-released as a filter cigarette which targeted men (it had previously been a cigarette targeting women, with a “beauty tip to protect the lips”), and Winston was introduced with a hefty advertising budget of $15 million.

Leading the pack with health claims was Kent, with ads that read, “What a wonderful feeling to know that Kent filters best of all leading filter cigarettes!” (1958) and “You’ll feel better about smoking with the taste of Kent!” (1961). Ironically, Kent’s filter contained asbestos, a mineral known to cause mesothelioma, a fatal form of cancer. In fact, the asbestos in Kent’s filter was crocidolite asbestos (also known as blue asbestos), which is often considered the deadliest form of the fibrous mineral.

1. Riis, R.W. Reader’s Digest. “How Harmful are Cigarettes?” 7 Jan 1999. .

Capri – img1025

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Marlboro – img1065

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Early Black Ads – img8148

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As World War II came to a close, tobacco companies needed to expand to “new” markets in order to maintain prosperity. At this point, they began issuing mass marketing efforts targeting African Americans. Whereas there was minor advertising in weekly African Americans newspapers prior to the war, scholars cite a number of post-war changes as the sources for the surge in market expansion, mainly the growth in urban migration and the steadily increasing incomes of African Americans in the 1940s (1). One scholar explains that “between 1920 and 1943, the annual income of African Americans increased threefold, from $3 billion to more than $10 billion,” making the population an increasingly appealing demographic for the tobacco industry (2). Indeed, advertising and marketing magazines published many articles at the time describing the profitable “emerging Negro market.” One such article from 1944, for example, was titled, “The American Negro—An ‘Export’ Market at Home” (3). A subsequent article printed a year later provided a table depicting “How Negroes Spent Their Incomes, 1920-1943 (4). The table revealed that the amount of money African Americans spent on tobacco products increased six-fold from 1920 to 1943.

Perhaps the catalyzing force in the tobacco industry’s foray into African American targeting came in the form of emerging advertising avenues that could be used to target African American populations without alienating whites; the 1940s saw the introduction of a number of glossy monthly magazines including Negro Digest (1942, renamed Black World), Ebony (1945) and Negro Achievements (1947, renamed Sepia). These mass-media publications were much more attractive to advertisers than the African American daily newspapers of the pre-war era, with glossy pages and a larger national distribution. The magazines, because they were intended for a purely African American audience, also provided advertisers with an opportunity to run ads featuring African American models away from the eyes of white consumers.

Internal tobacco industry documents reveal the massive development of the African American market in the 1940s and its impact on the tobacco industry. Public Relations firms specializing in targeting African American populations sent materials to the major tobacco companies hoping to secure business partnerships. One PR firm, in correspondence with RJ Reynolds in 1949, reminded the company that, “The negro market is a big one. I sincerely hope that I may have the opportunity [sic] of helping to further cultivate it for you” (5).

The major tobacco companies all made inroads on the “Negro market” in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Indeed, before the invent of such avenues, in the first decades of the twentieth century, the only ads featuring African Americans were racist advertisements using black caricatures, a striking contrast to the depictions seen in African American publications from the late 1940s to early 1950s, which featured African American models as professionals, students, and famous athletes. An advertising trade magazine, Printer’s Ink, described how, in 1947, the American Tobacco Company “entered the Negro market with a series of Famous Firsts about Negroes that were eye-openers to many in advertising” (6). The article describes the campaign content as telling “the history of some of the outstanding achievements of the Negroes,” most of which, according to the article, “were little known to students of the race.” Examples of these spotlights included Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and “some of the modern Negro notables.” The Printer’s Ink article explains that the campaign intends to market cigarettes to African Americans by demonstrating “to the Negro that his race has accomplished many things.”

Tobacco advertising methods targeting African Americans shifted in the late 1950s, 60s, and 70s with the rise of the Civil Rights movement, and just as there was economic and market pressure in the 1940s to increase marketing efforts to African Americans, the 1970s and 1980s sparked resurgence in these efforts. An R.J. Reynolds document from 1969, for example, marks an increase in “Negro purchasing power” from 3 billion in 1940 to 32 billion in 1970. At this point, in order to refocus attention on the African American population and strengthen their ties to the community, tobacco companies worked on promotional campaigns, which funded key organizations such as the NAACP, the National Urban League, and the United Negro College Fund. An internal Brown & Williamson document declares that the “relatively small and often tight knit community can work to B&W’s marketing advantage if exploited properly. Peer pressure plays a more important role in many phases of life in the minority community. Therefore, dominance of the market place and the community environment is necessary to successfully increase sales there” (7).

As the industry began sponsoring African American institutions and charities, they also shifted their print advertising techniques to reflect the changing political climate. Increasingly, models wearing “naturals” or Afros began popping up in ads for Newport, L&M, Kent, Kool, and many more. A Kent ad from 1971 shows a man and a woman, both wearing Afros, talking on the phone together and smoking cigarettes, the slogan “Rap’n Kent” underneath.

One scholar describes advertisements from the early 1960s as portraying a “racially desegregated society in which the discerning tastes and values of black consumers were highlighted” (3). But she notes a shift with the emergence of Black Power, in which ads were able to latch onto the Black Nationalism movement while completely avoiding the political ideology therein. Instead, the ads worked at “selling soul,” and “invoked themes of black pride, solidarity, and “soul style.” Indeed, a Viceroy ad campaign from 1970 demonstrates a carefully crafted combination of both approaches. One ad from the campaign shows a stylish couple – the man in a suit and the woman in a yellow mod mini-dress – shopping at an outdoor art boutique while smoking. The caption reads, “Their collection? It’s fun to build on. Their apartment looks like a gallery. With everything from Neo-Afro realism to their child’s finger painting. Their cigarettes? Viceroy. They won’t settle for anything less. It’s a matter of taste.” This ad exemplifies the industry’s blatant attempts at exploiting Black Nationalism. An internal Brown & Williamson document from 1969 reveals that tobacco companies were indeed using this theme to market cigarettes: “The desire for blackness, or soul, as part of solving their identity crisis is something that must be understood. A sense of identity is being accentuated because today, as never before, Negroes are taking pride in themselves” (8). Viceroy, like many of the other leading brands, also capitalized on this “soul” movement. Another ad from the same series features four African Americans at a nightclub enjoying drinks and cigarettes while listening to a musician. White people sit in the background enjoying the same music. The caption for this ad reads, “Their sounds? They like ‘em heavy. And with soul. The music not only has to say something. It has to move.”

At this time, menthols also emerged as a cigarette targeting African-Americans. Whereas in the past, menthol cigarettes had been advertised to the general population as an occasional cigarette to smoke when sick or suffering from smoker’s cough, the 1960s brought along the beginnings of a different image for the menthol cigarette. In 1969 alone, Lorillard increased its “Negro market budget” by 87% over 1968 due to the introduction of its menthol cigarette, Newport, to the African American market. Likewise, British American Tobacco doubled their budget from 1968 to 1969 in order to increase African-American radio station coverage for its menthol cigarette, Kool, as well as for Viceroy, which targeted African American stations (8). Today, over 70% of African-American smokers smoke menthols as opposed to only 35% of white smokers (9).

1. Walker, Susannah. “Black Dollar Power:” Susannah Walker. (University of Chicago Press, Jul 15, 2009 )

2. Walker, Susannah. “Style & Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women, 1920-1975”

3. Sullivan, David J. “The American Negro—An ‘Export’ Market at Home!” Printer’s Ink; 208:3. 21 July 1944:90.

4 Sullivan, David J. “How Negroes Spent Their Incomes, 1920-1943.” Sales Management. 15 June 1945.

5. “Thank You Very Much For Your Letter of the 23rd.” RJ Reynolds. 31 March 1949. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/bwz79d00

6. “—No Title—.” American Tobacco. 26 Nov 1948. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/vaj41a00

7. “Discussion Paper: Total Minority Marketing Plan,” 7 Sept 1984. Http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/dmf41f00

8. “A Study of Ethnic Markets.” R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Sept 1969. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/paq76b00

9. Gardiner, Phillip S. “The African Americanization of menthol cigarette use in the United States.” Nicotine & Tobacco Research Vol.6 Supp. 1. Feb 2004.

Targeting Black Women – img8445

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In targeting black women, tobacco companies often portray an image of a strong, independent black woman. Increasingly, in the 1960s and 1970s, models wearing “naturals” or Afros began popping up in ads for Newport, L&M, Kent, Kool, and many more. A Kent ad from 1968 features a glamorous black woman wearing an Afro and luxurious jewelry next to the slogan, “Kent smokes… and that’s where it’s at.” Recent Salem ads from the 2000s feature the slogan, “Stir the senses,” and each ad depicts a sexy black woman smoking in green, mentholated ecstasy. A Camel ad from 2001 portrays a beautiful black woman singing in a nightclub in the “diva” tradition of Whitney Houston and Beyoncé Knowles. A Virginia Slims campaign from roughly the same time used the slogan “Find Your Voice” coupled with images of strong African women. For example, an ad from the campaign in 2000 features a woman in traditional clothing, balancing bolts of fabric on her head. The text beside her, half in Swahili, reads,”Kila mtu ana uzuri wake – No single institution owns the copyright for BEAUTY.” In this way, Virginia Slims portrays an image of accepting diverse standards of beauty.

Sex Sells – img21464

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Tobacco companies know as much as anybody that “sex sells,” and they have no qualms with making use of phallic symbols or with objectifying women to sell their products.

Blu, the leading brand of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs), placed an advertisement for its product in February 2014. The ad featured the Blu logo front and center on an itsy bitsy bikini bottom of a shapely model. On the online version of the ad you could even zoom in on the picture. You don’t see the woman’s face only her belly button to her legs. Accompanying the ad was the slogan “Slim. Charged. Ready to Go.” The obvious sexual reference of the slogan is hard to miss. Blu also sponsored parties at Playboy’s top party schools that allowed partygoers to meet the Playmates. Playboy itself got into the act by creating its own Playboy e-cigs. Some of the ads for the Playboy e-cigs with the trademarked bunny symbol advertised free condoms with the purchase of the vapor device.

Phantom Smoke is a brand that in their advertising is shameless in its objectification of women. Many of the ads feature skimpily clothed women in subservient positions to men. An ad for PhatomSmoke has a woman suggestively sitting in the bathtub with the e-hookah between her teeth. Her lingerie is carelessly discarded on the rim of the bathtub. In another ad, a woman wearing racy black lingerie is on the floor holding onto an out stretched leg of a man sitting on a couch with an e-cig in his hand. An ad for Krave e-cigs has a woman dressed in a bodysuit sitting on a side of a sofa her legs slightly apart as she gazes towards the viewer.

Other tobacco ads exploit the “sex sells” market through innuendo and subliminal messaging. Many ads use phallic imagery.

Apart from online and print advertisements that exploit sex to sell the product, online videos are replete with sexual innuendo. An online video for Blu exploits sex to promote a cessation message. An ad for VIP e-cig featured a sultry-looking woman saying: “I want you to get it out. I want to see it. Feel it. Hold it. Put it in my mouth. I want to see how great it tastes.” The online and TV ad, which ran in Britain, attracted 937 complaints about its “overtly sexual” tone.

Capri – img1026

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Marlboro – img1061

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Capri – img1027

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Marlboro – img1062

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Recent Black Ads – img5084

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While print advertising for tobacco products is now seen in few mainstream magazines in recent years, it is still very prevalent in Black magazines. Particularly, the Johnson Publishing Company, Inc., publishers of Ebony and Jet, has continued to be been a consistent partner with tobacco advertising, particularly for Lorillard’s Newport. An internal document prepared by Advertising Experti for Philip Morris in 1996 outlines the major Black magazines ideal for tobacco advertisements (1):

Ebony: “EBONY Magazine is a Black-oriented lifestyle general interest publication, dealing with contemporary topics.”

Essence: “ESSENCE is a magazine editorially geared to the upwardly mobile Black woman, described as being professional, well-educated, and affluent.”

Black Elegance: “BLACK ELEGANCE (BE) is a national lifestyle magazine for the contemporary, upscale Black woman 25-44 years of age. Its readership is depicted as achievers who seek quality in their careers and lifestyles. Jet: “As a newsweekly, JET provides the latest domestic and international information concerning newsmakers and news events.”

Upscale: “This magazine emerged as a publishing entity in August 1989. Its editorial fare combines celebrity profiles with articles that explores issues effecting the empowerment of African Americans.

Black Enterprise: ”BLACK ENTERPRISE Magazine is the premier business news source for African Americans.

Ebony Man: “It was created […] to serve the lifestyle needs of upwardly mobile Black men”

Class: “CLASS Magazine began publication in September 1979, servicing the Caribbean-American population segment, a Black consumer group not specifically addressed by other Black-oriented national magazines.”

Vibe: “VIBE magazine speaks to a generation of young men and women whose lifestyles resists categorization along conventional lines of race, class or gender. From an inclusive, multicultural prospective. VIBE covers a myriad of subjects judged pertinent to the lifestyle of young adults.”

Emerge: “EMERGE covers issues, ideas and events from a Black perspective.”

1. Advertising Experti. “Benson & Hedges African American Magazine Synopsis.” Philip Morris. 16 Jan 1996. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/oug59h00:

Capri – img1028

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Capri – img1029

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Marlboro – img1063

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Capri – img11821

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Capri – img11822

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Capri – img11823

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Not One Single Case – img1676

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To supplement Camel’s “More Doctors Smoke Camels” campaign, the brand added “Not One Single Case of Throat Irritation due to smoking Camels” to its repertoire. The latter slogan laced Camel advertisements from 1947 to 1952, contributing to the brand’s push toward marketing Camels as “healthy” or harmless. The statement was attributed to “noted throat specialists,” but urged consumers to test the results for themselves as well. The medical authority provided the statement with a vote of confidence, and eased the worried public’s concerns over adverse health effects related to smoking.

To supplement Camel’s “More Doctors Smoke Camels” campaign, the brand added “Not One Single Case of Throat Irritation due to smoking Camels” to its repertoire. The latter slogan laced Camel advertisements from 1947 to 1952, contributing to the brand’s push toward marketing Camels as “healthy” or harmless. The statement was attributed to “noted throat specialists,” but urged consumers to test the results for themselves as well. The medical authority provided the statement with a vote of confidence, and eased the worried public’s concerns over adverse health effects related to smoking.

Capri – img1030

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.

Marlboro – img1072

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Marlboro – img1057

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This is an example of one of the earlier Marlboro ads, which marketed Marlboro cigarettes as being “Mild as May” to attract a female audience. This advertisement takes the next step by actually illustrating a fashionable woman smoking elegantly. In large letters, this ad mentions that Marlboros have “Ivory Tips” to “protect the lips,” targeting women who are concerned with protecting their lipstick. The woman pictured wears very dark lipstick, but her absurdly large cigarette is clean from any lipstick stains. Marlboro, the brand associated today with the rugged manliness of the “Marlboro Man” cowboy of later decades, was actually introduced to the market in 1927 as a woman’s cigarette. It wasn’t until 1954, after the war, that Marlboro underwent a sex change to compete with the three other top cigarette manufacturers.

Capri – img9944

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Brown & Williamson launched Capri as the first ever “super slim” cigarette in 1987, targeting young women. Traditional cigarettes have a circumference of 25 mm, slim cigarettes 23 mm, and Capri Super Slims only 17 mm. Advertisements for Capri follow the logic that slimmer is better, apparently influenced by the assumption that women prefer to be physically slim, since a slender figure is often presented as more desirable in women’s fashion magazines and by models in the fashion industry. Slogans such as “The slimmest slim in town” (1988) and “There is no slimmer way to smoke” (1994) provides a not-so-subliminal message that by smoking Capri cigarettes, consumers can count on obtaining or maintaining a slimmer figure than everyone else.